If a museum contracts with a designer/patternmaker to draft a pattern (in
this case, a copy of a dress by an unknown tailor, c. 1885) and make a
subsequent reproduction of that pattern, then the museum owns the pattern
and the reproduction, as well as reproduction rights to images of the
dress itself.  But do they own the copyright to the pattern that is
drafted by the designer?  Or does the designer retain some rights?
 Secondly, what if the designer contracts with a museum to make a
facsimile of a period garment--something used essentially as an
interpreter's costume.  Who owns the copyright to the pattern?  Is the
pattern considered in the same vein as a commissioned artwork?  In both
cases, the contract simply states that the designer submit the finished
work to the museum, and upon payment the work becomes the property of the
museum.

Any ideas?

Reply on- or off- list.

Pat Roath
Elizabeth Sage Historic Costume Collection
Indiana University, Bloomington
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