A quick second though with a more concrete example - and this also addresses
new issues due to the digital world we are now in, for anyone who is putting
collections online.

The LOC has online some large digital files of copies of photographer Walker
Evan's famous depression era photographs. You can download these for free
and they are big enough to print a very nice 11x14 photograph (I have
several on my wall - beautiful quadtone pigment prints on Photo Rag paper
:-)  ).

Now, these are all Public Domain (and have been since creation) because
these particular images were shot for the US Government (the FSA in its
various forms).  Someone could quite happily download these, print them off
and sell them as posters, postcards whatever. As long as they were
specifically those that are Public Domain, there is little anyone could do.
In fact if you searched the historic section of a number of picture
libraries/agencies, you will find them selling files of the exact same
images. LOC still owns the originals, but they have little control over the
copies once they have been made available.

tim

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