In a message dated 8/17/2006 4:02:21 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

I'm  wondering if any of you have a similar situation. An elderly 
photographer  has given us her archive of negatives.  However, she continues 
to get  requests for prints of her photographs from collectors and for  
publications--this is a much needed source of income for her.

She  would like to have a formal agreement with us as to how all this should  
work now and after her death. Who handles what, who gets what profits etc.  
We are looking for examples of this type of agreement--if any of you have  a 
similar situation and would be willing to share how you handle it, I'd  
appreciate it.



I don't have a sample agreement to send because this is precisely the kind  
of situation I've always avoided like the plague.  I would not accept a  
donation of a negative archive in the first place if it is still being used  
actively by the photographer/donor.  Are the negatives loaned back to the  ph
otographer for her to make prints?  If you have stringent registrarial  rules about 
loans--as most museums do or should have--this could become a  nightmare.  Or 
are they simply loaned back on an informal, casual  basis?  If the negatives are 
still being used, what, really, is the point  of the gift?  Did the 
photographer/donor take a tax deduction for the  gift?  If so, I think that allowing 
her to continue to derive income from  their use is questionable.  I think I'd 
want a lawyer to look this  arrangement over.  If it is deemed acceptable after 
some qualified legal  scrutiny, your institution should certainly get a 
percentage of the  photographer's profit.  I dunno, though.  This just strikes me 
as a  bad idea.  Sorry to take such a "negative" view.
 
David Haberstich
 
 

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