>On 9/17/08 11:57 AM, "Randy Little" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>> >That is not the case under US copyright law and has been tested where a 2d
>> illustration was made of a photography.   US copyright says that any
>> recognizable >portion of an image used without permission is a violation.
>> (and has been tested)  It has also been tested in other mediums such as music
>> sampling.    
>> >
>> >Randy S. Little
>> >http://reel.rslittle.com
> 
> 
> Non of this is simple or black and white ­ and derivative works/appropriation
> is one of the greyest of all areas of copyright law.
> 
> For example check out the Richard Prince¹s highly successful Marlboro Ad
> photographs.  Or the court cases around Jeff Koons¹ work ­ he wins some, he
> loses some, where the circumstances are fairly similar.
> 
> e.g. 
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_v._Koons
> 
> http://newsgrist.typepad.com/underbelly/2006/01/koons_wins_land.html
> 
> 
> Also, on the exceptions mentioned ­ these are the same in Canada for buildings
> and permanently displayed public art work. In the US, the latter isn¹t clearly
> articulated, but full copyright protection for a major artwork (e.g.
> Sculpture) located in say a public square is fairly questionable and is being
> challenged in a number of places. Also in the US, there is little or no
> copyright protection for buildings.
> 
> (and remember, in copyright law, the law that applies is that of the country
> where the infringement takes place, not  where the object/artwork was
> originally located).
> 
> ³>...One further thought ­ much in our collections is entirely public domain.
> Sometimes we do ourselves a disservice by trying to hold on to those things to
> tightly and >control every possible use around them
> 
>> >What copying museums choose to allow the public to do is another question.
>> It could be argued that restricting the public's ability to copy/photograph
>> objects >beyond what is required by law is unethical. The first tenet of the
>> curator's hippocratic oath, as it were, should be to facilitate the uses the
>> public wants to make of >the collections in her custody (as far as _genuine_
>> conservation considerations allow), ensuring she is not reserving privileged
>> use of, or access to, the collections for >herself or her institution. In
>> this view it is also misguided to prohibit the public from taking photographs
>> of objects in the collection because it creates images >'outside the museum's
>> control' or allows parties other than the museum to 'profit' from the
>> collections. This is particularly the case in regard to artistic works on
>> >public display which are out of copyright and which are (supposed to be) in
>> the public domain. To many it would seem wrong that museums and other owners
>> of artistic works are able, for example, to subvert the statutory limitations
>> placed on the duration of copyright by controlling and restricting access to,
>> and copying of, >works in which the copyright has expired and which are
>> supposed to be in the ownership of everyone/no-one.

>> >In my view the measure of success and quality of museums in the future will
>> be the extent to which their policies allow the collections in their custody
>> to be opened >up for use in all the ways the public wants, including
>> photography of the collections, and which succeed in eradicating the
>> proprietorial claims and instincts of >curators that have plagued museums in
>> the past.²
> 
> Sums it up pretty well
> 
> 
> 
> tim a 
> 

-- 
Tim Atherton
Assistant Curator
Musée Héritage Museum, St. Albert
(780) 459-1594
[log in to unmask]


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