At 18:34 28/04/98 GMT, you wrote:
>Colleagues,
>
>I need more responses for this survey. If you answered, please accept my
>deepest thanks and I plan to contact you after the AAM meeting with the
>results. If you haven't responded, please take a few moments and jot down
your
>thoughts. I am interested in responses from all areas of museum
administration.
>I thank you all in advance.
>
>Curators, Registrars and Collections Managers are frequently given the
>responsibility of steering their museums through the litigious waters
>surrounding the development and execution of exhibitions and collections. How
>easily and confidently they arrive at their decisions depends upon the
support
>of their management who should help provide them with the necessary tools to
>evaluate situations and call in legal assistance when necessary. Granted some
>museums have legal counsel on staff but what about those museums who don t.
>How does the registrar obtain the information - classes, workshops, books -
>necessary to make these calls?
>
>The information I gather from this survey will be evaluated and presented at
>the AAM session  Museum Law: Legal Issues That Impact Managerial Decisions ,
>because of my experience, I am focusing my remarks on collections and
>exhibitions.  It is my hope that the results will reflect a broad spectrum of
>real legal issues facing today s museums both large and small. Please take a
>few moments and answer the following questions. Thank you for your help.
>
>
>1.      What is the major legal issue that your museum faces or fears the
most?

ONE of the legal issues our or any museum faces is copyright infringement.
As we use copyrighted material everyday in our work, programs, and
publications, the issue is omnipresent.

>1a.     Any litigations you care to share?

One --the museum was sued for photographing and licensing the resultant
photograph of a work of art without the copyright holder's (in this case,
not the artist) permission.  Fortunately it was settled out of court.


>2.      What training have you received to help you make legal decisions?
>2a.     Did the museum support these efforts?

I am self-taught: an art historian thrust into the role of copyright dept.
head.  The museum has supported my efforts passively by not standing in my
way and expecting me to learn and fulfill this role, and actively by
sending me to conferences.  However, a great deal of my "education" occurs
at home, on unpaid time, in particular via the Internet & e-mail.


>3.      Where do you go for legal counsel?

Our museum has outside legal counsel.  As it is costly, we must have
authorization to turn to legal counsel.


>4.      Please describe your museum.

A "national" museum - encyclopedic art and archaeology collections. See
<www.imj.org.il>



>5.      Your name and title (if you prefer to remain anonymous - I guess
that s
>hard with e-mail - let me know and the information will be treated
>confidentially).

See signature below.


>
>Gail Kana Anderson
>Assistant Director/Curator of Collections
>Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, The University of Oklahoma
>410 W. Boyd St.
>Norman, OK 73019
>405.325.3272; Fax 405.325.7696
>[log in to unmask]
>
amalyah keshet
head of visual resources
(photographic services / rights & reproductions)
the israel museum, jerusalem
[log in to unmask]
fax: +972-2-670-8064
visit our web page: www.imj.org.il