Greetings,
        I'm writing with hopes of gathering suggestions for how
to develop a copyright policy for using images of collections for an art
museum website.  My name is Caroline Seigel, and I'm a graduate student at
Indiana University.  I'm currently working as a volunteer with Linda Baden
in the Editorial Service at the Indiana University Art Museum, and the
Museum is in the process of selecting which works of art would best represent
its collections on its website.  I'd very much appreciate any suggestions
or experience that others have and would be willing to share.
        There are a few specific instances that the museum is
seeking advice for dealing with copyright.  The I.U. Art Museum is interested
in posting images of a Stuart Davis painting and a Picasso painting on its
website (the current site URL is http://www.indiana.edu/~iuam).  I understand
that for post- 1978 art copyright is held by the individual artist
and not by the holding institution.  How have others dealt with this situation?
Have you written to the artist or their estate for images which you have used
on a museum website?  Have you as an institution been charged for permission to
reproduce an image on your website?  Does this fee (or lack of one) depend
on image screen resolution?  If a fee has been charged, could you describe
a typical range of fees or are you ever able to negotiate a fee?  Also, do you
use a standard form when purchasing modern works of art to purchase copyright
along with it?  If so, could you kindly send a sample of this type of
form?  One final question:  when displaying an image on your website, what is
a standard policy for identifying copyright-- placing a copyright sign
with the artist's name, using a watermark seal over the image itself?
        I know this is a lot to ask in one e-mail, but I'd greatly
appreciate any answers to one or more of these questions.  This issue
has been very tricky for us to deal with as we develop our website, and
I'm sure Indiana University is not alone in this situation.
    Again, thank you in advance.

Sincerely,
Caroline Seigel

As a final note, I'd be happy to summerize responses and post them to the
list.


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             *         Caroline Louise Seigel             *
            *   School of Library & Information Science  *
             *           Indiana University               *
            *           [log in to unmask]              *
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