Candace
From what you say, the originals are out of copyright (under European copyright law, broadly speaking things come out of copyright 70 years after the death of the author/artist). However it is generally accepted that photographs (even those whose intention is merely to copy the original) are sufficently 'original' to have their own copyright (the expiry of which would then be 70 years after the death of the photographer). So if a publisher wants to use your photograph of the object they need your permission to reproduce the photograph.
As owner of the object you have the right and ability to control access to the object and to grant access to the object subject to certain terms and conditions. I assume, for example, that you don't allow visitors to come in and photograph them themselves. You could add to your normal access conditions something like 'visitors must not paint or draw on the premises'.
The converse can also be true, I have at home a number of contemporary artworks, there is no question that I own these pictures but I have no rights to reproduce them because the copyright remains with the artist (or course the artist can't come and photograph the originals now without my permission).
Trevor Reynolds
Collections Registrar, English Heritage
Room G01, 23 Savile Row, London, W1S 2ET, UK
tel: +44 (0)20 7973 3482 fax: +44 (0)20 7973 3001 (GTN 3503 3482)
>>> schwenkfelder library & heritage center <[log in to unmask]> 05/31 4:46 pm >>>
Greetings everyone:
I know this has been rehashed several times, but I'd like to throw it out again because we have had a very specific situation arise. Our institution owns and will regularly exhibit (since our new facility is completed) a magnificant collection of fraktur (PA German illuminated manuscripts). With the great interest in early American decorative arts and folk art right now, many artists are looking at our images (and those that belong to other institutions, I'm sure) and reproducing them. Recently an artist's repro of one of our pieces was published in a national magazine as her work.
This artist states that she and fellow artists (as she says, everyone does it) believe these works to be in the public domain and are free game for any one to copy. We of course feel that we must control these very valuable and important images. I have a fair acquaintance with copyright law for photos and recent works of art, and I believe because we own these images we have the right to say what may be done with them. We have had small museums who are self-publishing books for very limited distribution go through the formal application process to use photographic images from our collection -- why is this different? The artist claims the work is not precisely the same. In print, however, it looks exactly like our piece, so do her minor alterations make it okay to reproduce without even so much as a phone call to us? The kicker is that she says she doesn't make much money off of the repros, but that's always the same old story. I'd very interested in what anybody thinks -- artists who are lurking please let me know your thoughts, or how you have handled this situation.
Candace Perry
Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center
_________________________________________________________________
This e-mail is intended solely for the above-mentioned recipient
and it may contain confidential or privileged information. If you
have received it in error, please notify us immediately and delete
the e-mail. You must not copy, distribute, disclose or take any
action in reliance on it.
English Heritage
Telephone 020 7973 3000
Facsimile 020 7973 3001
_________________________________________________________________
========================================================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).
|
