Anna, this is a very interesting question.  I don't know the answer, as I am
no authority on patents, but will hazard some guesses and comments based on
my experience.

Theoretically, it is possible to patent a broad range of ideas, techniques,
and processes.  If museum staff devise a particular technique, say, for a
type of exhibit construction, a conservation technique, machinery, or some
new technological device, I suppose it could be patented.  Whether there are
any legal restrictions against non-profit organizations securing patents, I
don't know (of course, there are for-profit museums, notwithstanding the AAM
definition which excludes them, but they do in fact exist, and there would
certainly be no reason they couldn't obtain patents).  Nevertheless, I
suspect that many museums would consider it antithetical to their mission to
obtain and enforce patents--most seem to operate on the assumption that new
ideas should be shared freely with other institutions.

I should think that most "programs" and exhibit ideas would not lend
themselves to either patent or copyright protection, and could be easily
copied or adapted by other institutions--but it's hard to envision exactly
what you have in mind.

As a matter of interest, my institution has the papers of a
photographer-lecturer who once accused an art museum of copying one of his
program ideas, including its title, for their own program.  He was a
for-profit free-lancer who contracted to present programs at museums and
other cultural institutions, and although he complained about what he
considered an unethical and underhanded trick, he didn't seek any financial
redress because, as far as I can determine, he really didn't know to what
extent the museum had "copied" his presentation--he merely saw the title and
description in their publicity and got alarmed.  My reaction was that his
idea and title were fairly obvious and didn't strike me as unique--and you
can neither patent nor copyright a title (although it can be trademarked); I
strongly suspected that the apparent duplication was sheer coincidence.  On
the other hand, if he had found that they had somehow copied his actual
lecture text for presentation by someone else, he might have had an
opportunity for legal action to protect his copyright.

As individuals can copyright text and visuals, institutions can and do also.
Under the current copyright law, moreover, the mere act of creation carries
with it some automatic copyright protection (although the law specifically
states that you can't seek financial compensation unless you actually
register for copyright).  Institutions can and should enforce copyright
protection for their creative work, which would include the actual content of
exhibits and programs--but not exhibit and program ideas or titles.

Perhaps others have specific examples along these lines to share--either in
the copyright or patent fields.

David Haberstich

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