The use of photography in this instance is for private use and if the 
photos were taken legally (as per the policy of the institution or 
collector) and if the photos are not sold or distributed then I see no 
apparent violation of the US copyright law.

If visitors are taking photos in galleries and musuems which do not 
permit photography then they are possibly violating the copyright 
rights of the owner(s) of the object or art work.

If the art work is in the public domain, within public view, then it 
can be photographed for personal use but may not be sold or 
distributed. Public sculpture, murals,  and architecture come to mind 
here, or even the recent "Gates" project by Christo in New York's 
Central Park. The same general issue applies to celebrities who walk 
down a public street - people who otherwise make millions from the sale 
and use of their images.

The cost invovled in developing photos and then scaling up to a 
commercial size (such as a 1:1 or a poster) would probably cost that 
person much more than a poster that they could buy from the insitution. 
A photo is still a photo and in no way could replace an original art 
work.

Cheers!
Dave

David Harvey
Conservator
Los Angeles, California USA

-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Smith <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent:         Sat, 30 Apr 2005 10:22:45 +1200
Subject: Feedback encouraged - a most concerning new trend among many 
digital camera and cameraphone users

    I received this from the owner of a commercial photoprint company. 
List users may be interested in commenting ,as he is clearly concerned 
about this apparently growing trend. Your thoughts?... which I could 
forward on to him 
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
 
 " Hi Roger, 
  I wanted to bring to your attention a most concerning new trend among 
many digital camera and cameraphone users. As the owner of an online 
nationwide boutique photo service, I have noticed that more customers 
are snapping photos of art -- from paintings to photographs at an 
alarming rate. A typical example is someone on vacation and instead of 
buying art, they simply take a picture and have us enlarge it. They 
then order custom photo enlargements with our online photo service, and 
thus preclude the necessity from buying the art directly. I am 
concerned about protecting the rights of the artist and equally 
protecting their livelihood. I wanted to share this with you and Global 
Museum readers and was wondering if this is a growing trend that you 
have also been experiencing" 
  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
 
 best wishes to all 
 
 Roger 
 [log in to unmask] 
 
 ========================================================= 
 Important Subscriber Information: 
 
  The Museum-L FAQ file is located at 
http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed 
information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail 
message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message 
should read "help" (without the quotes). 
 
  If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message 
to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read 
"Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). 

    

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).