I came across a website that is selling a reproduction of an item in our collection. The company even states on their website that the reproduction is based on an item from our collection. I have looked through numerous files to see if an agreement was made between our museum and the company, but have not found anything. The item was made in the 18th century so it is in the public domain, but I'm wondering if as a museum we have any rights to contact the company and start charging usage fees or something of the sort. I am not sure how long they have been selling this item either so that complicates the situation.
It is our current policy to charge usage fees for any of our images in our collection so we are familiar with that process but not with reproductions of 3-dimensional items from our collection which are then sold by another company.
I just have some concerns since they are using our name
to promote the authenticity of their reproduction without any known consent from us. Any suggestions as to what to do next?
Cindy Mackey
Sick sense of humor? Visit Yahoo! TV's
Comedy with an Edge to see what's on, when.
=========================================================
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).