T W Moran wrote:

> My apologies to the list but here in lies one of the great plagues of
> my life.


    TW

    Please don't judge all museums by the experiences you have had in
accessing historical materials.
    At every museum I've worked, artists, and all the public, have been
welcome to view and photograph any objects in the Museum (other than those
restricted by federal or other laws). I've personally conducted artists
through the collections and helped them find examples of arts and crafts
that they have used for revitalization, reproduction or inspiration for
contemporary interpretation.
    The objects in our collections are our fiduciary responsibility, and in
many cases may be our property, in the sense that we have purchased them for
the collections we curate. This does not mean, however, that we retain
exclusive rights to the design, concept or image of these objects. Depending
on the cultural context, cultural property rights may be held by the culture
of origin, the maker or the human community in general.
    Since we have a financial responsibility for the care of these objects,
we may ask others to share in the cost of that care, especially if the use
of reproductions or images of the objects will result in financial gain for
the user. But we cannot deny access to objects on the basis of perceived
"copyright," unless copyright is the subject of a curatorial agreement
between the maker/owner/donor and the museum. I would be interested to learn
the circumstances of the denial of permission to reproduce an 18th century
lantern as a copyright issue.

    Michael A. Lewis

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