I don't think that size of institution makes any difference. We are a small museum and we are happy to provide photo reproductions to researchers, writers, news media, etc. The problem is that use fees (not reproduction fees) can be so exorbitant as to be prohibitive to authors and others. As a small museum we charge a fee to cover our cost of reproducing the photo plus a little more. It comes down to about $8 for an 8/10. We scanned our photo collection (under $500 for a scanner)to avoid handling them as part of our preservation function and in order to catalog them. We reproduce the 8x10s in house using a digital photo printer (we paid $500 for one that allows us to go up to 11x17, it would cost less for a smaller printer). We use the scanner and printer all of the time for exhibits and other in-house use as well. The $8 easily covers the cost of the photo paper we use in the printer and the ink in the cartridge (probably around $2 per 8x10). The $6 difference compensates us for the time taken in finding and printing the photo. In the case of photo reproductions for commercial use, we also charge a minimal use fee. In some cases we are finding that people want the items in a digital file so all we do is copy the file to a CD (again the cost to us is probably around $2). If you have just a few images that are always requested, this whole process should be much less time-consuming than it is for us (we have over 1,000 photos). We always expect credit when our photos are used and there is where we get some of the good PR. We recently provided photos to a BBC production for no charge beyond reproduction costs when another larger institution was going to charge them a huge use fee. Guess what, we just increased our visibility in Great Britain. Even if photo reproduction do not translate into higher visitation, how many of us have visitation specifically stated in our mission statements? The publication of those photos is basically a kind of interpretation and that definitely is in many of our mission statements. You can be sure that a listing of number of photo requests filled is an important part of any grant proposal I write and any reports I make to our board. You can keep your fees low, meet your costs, and improve your PR. Steve Friesen, Director Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave 987 1/2 Lookout Mountain Rd. Golden, CO 80401 -----Original Message----- From: Candace Perry [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Monday, September 23, 2002 8:29 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Schedule of fees John, I agree wholeheartedly...we are a small historical society also with some very significant collections. We are a select few images that are constantly being requested. I have not known these images to ever serve us well from a "marketing" standpoint -- it seems that allowing these images to be used only results in more requests for the same images! Not long ago a major Ivy-league institution asked us to waive the fees (which are miniscule to begin with) to use one of these very popular images. No way. I'm delighted that people are interested in the images but it doesn't translate to more visitation for us, or anything else for that matter. I actually find the process truly annoying (however, if anyone out there needs an image, I will be happy to accomodate you!)and not profitable for us in anyway. We have a very small staff, also in a rural area, very tight budget; making reproductions usually involves working within someone else's deadlines -- we do our best and we need some compensation for the effort. Candace Perry ========================================================= 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). ========================================================= 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).