Hi all,

I'm looking for examples of collection policies and/or donation or 
release forms that speak specifically to a museum's right to use digital 
reproductions of private collections. At my museum, we have all of the 
regular legal forms in place - incoming and outgoing loans, certificate 
of gifts, sound recordings release forms, etc - but nothing really 
speaks to the non-exclusive right to use, reproduce, and publish digital 
images we've made from original prints and negatives that get returned 
to their owners.

We recently improved our digitization capabilities so we can actually 
start making digital reproductions of original prints and negatives and 
add them to our permanent photo collection, if that is the desire of the 
individuals who retain ownership of these items. It makes sense to sort 
out the level of rights the museum has now rather than ten years from 
now when we want to use a particular digital image. We can't use a 
certificate of gift form, because we're not collecting the original 
photo, but it seems like we need to use a permission or release form 
that clearly states the rights of the museum, and ideally, these rights 
would be as broad as possible. I'm looking for any published material 
that speaks to electronic collections, and any examples of collection 
policies and forms that institutions have developed regarding the 
digital use of private collections.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and help you can provide. I've 
wished so many times that there was a cost-effective way to retain a 
copy of a borrowed photo for our permanent collection. Now there is such 
a way, but I don't want to inadvertently cause the museum legal problems 
in my enthusiastic attempts to broaden the photo collection.

Carrie Ronnander
Curator

Chippewa Valley Museum
P.O. 1204
Eau Claire, WI  54702
www.cvmuseum.com
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