On Wed, 30 Jan 2002 11:13:58 -0600, Albert Sperath <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>We need help to see if an idea we are pursuing is ethical/legal and
>in use anywhere else.
I thought I'd try to comment on this, although I don't think I can be of much help on the legal issue...but since nobody else seems
to have posted anything, here goes.
>. We propose to have our photographic office on campus take a
>digital picture of the item requested and then have it printed at
>full scale or less depending on the size of the original. It would be
>identified as a copy of an original in the collections with all
>appropriate identification, caveats and credits. It would not be for
>sale, only loaned for decorative purposes. The copy would be produced
>at their expense and it would eventually come back to the museum.
We have done this on occasion with portraits and paintings that are in our collection. Most of these were cases where the original
had hung in various offices in our capital area (state gov't) for years, and for whatever reason were brought back into storage and
we had to replace them with reproductions. Let me say first, that I am not a registrar or in a collections position, but I am one of
the staff photographers responsible for actually getting the repro print done.
Technically, what I would suggest would be to have your photo dept. (if possible) make a 4x5 transp. of the original and go to
some sort of quality output rather than a digital image...unless of course, your dept. has a high-end digital ($$$$$) camera. You
will get much, much more milage out of a 4x5 original down the road than any digital image....we usually have an Ilfochrome
Classic (a Cibachrome--on the polyester base, very stable) made and will mount that....but now, with digital, alot of commercial
labs are moving into hybrid systems that use trad. photo papers to "burn" an image into them...the most popular printer is called a
"lightjet"...a Lambda printer is similar....with this you get a scan from a slide, transp. or neg...and it's output onto whatever photo
paper you require.....there's a Fuji paper called "Crystal Archive" that comes in various grades....this material is supposed to be
better than cibas for the longterm. Inkjet prints and other digital output are only so-so for longterm display.....
That said, one of these paintings was a very large one that hung for years in our state legislature building....it was larger than any
one piece of cibachrome...so if we did it that way, it would have to be on 2 pieces "tiled" together.....it had to be 1:1. We shot this
on 4x5 chrome film, and had a drum scan made and it was output on a wide-format Encad inkjet printer on canvas....the inks were
made for outdoor display and rated at 15 yrs. LE...which I think is a reasonable estimate as opposed to some manufacturers
claims...( that's the cynic in me). Our exhibits shop made a nice wooden frame & stretcher for this and the whole thing was
stretched just like a painting....our finisher also gave it a good spray overcoat of some sort of UV inhibiting laquer. In the end, this
was about 58" or so wide by close to 9 feet long...and from a viewing distance actually looked like a painting...up close you could
see it wasn't, but it was very good reproduction in the end....it's hanging in partial sunlight, so we'll see in 15 yrs. time how well it
does...but at least it's not an artifact.
>After consulting with our university attorney for © compliance he and
>I decided to ask if anyone else out there has done a similar thing or
>thought about it and abandoned the idea. We are aware of the dates
>for transition to public domain and other © and VARA issues but this
>might be a unique situation.
As far as I know, the paintings we've done this for our ares completely...most of them have been portraits of various governors and
elected officials....they've been here for so long, I doubt there's an issue with copyright. Now, if you're talking fine-art commisioned
by your institution...that's another story I guess...although it seems like in the deed of gift and the accession paperwork, the rights
and restrictions would have been worked out....with that I say again...I'm not a registrar and do not hold a degree in public history
etc....I am but a simple museum photographer....
Good luck, and hope this helps somewhat.
KT
Kent Thompson, Photographer
North Carolina Museum of History
Email: [log in to unmask]
Opinions expressed in this message may not represent the policy of my agency.
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