Pamela,

Public Domain in regards to copyright means that the copyright has passed
into open use for that work. Copyright is a separate issue from the
ownership of the object, art, or artifact as property. Even if the copyright
is in the public domain it is still a piece of property owned by the
institution or individual. Thus, you or your institution control access the
the handling, use, etc. of that property. If your policy is for people to
submit research requests, handle with gloves, and no photos are allowed then
they sign an agreement first and that controls the access and use of your
property. If they want a photo of the object or art for a book, you can
stipulate that you or your institution has to solely provide the photo -
which can be copyrighted by you.

The smithsonian, for instance, is a public museum but there are very
specific policies and rules that guide and control access to the collections
both in storage and on exhibit.

So I am with your general sentiment but public domain is a very specific
copyright status in regards to the use of works, not on how they are
accessed as artifacts or property. Control the access and you control any
potential exploitation. How a state or federal institution does this may be
under different regulations and systems than a non-profit institution.

Again I refer you to the US Copyright site for the information. Here is the
page on Definitions - scroll down and you'll find "Public Domain".

http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-definitions.html

Also:
http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm

Also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain

Also:
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/copyright/publicdomain.html

And finally - the Library of Congress Policy on Photographs for Researchers:
http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/195_copr.html

Enjoy!
Dave

David Harvey
Conservator
Los Angeles, CA

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