I've spent some time pondering may of these issues and have been able to clarify ...if even just in my own head. It seems as though I'm not able to get this concept through to staff I've had to work with and the great NEED to assess...especially photographs for use by private individuals. It helped me a great deal to go back to the mission of the museum I worked in in order to find some clarification.

A 'public' collection is primarily to serve the public through the mission of the museum. We should avoid, at all costs...allowing private individuals to exploit a museum's collection for a purpose that does not comply with the museum's mission.

Boy, so many times I find that people perceive 'public' as something that an individual has every and all rights to. An analogy I like to use are the resources available on public lands. Does this mean that any and all individuals (the public) can just go and cut down a tree in a forest, take any artifacts they come across, pick as many flowers as they like? No...because then they are taking something away from the "all" of the public.

The museum I worked in has written guidelines that allow loans of objects only to schools, colleges or other educational organizations. However, after I left...staff were allowing loans of objects to private individuals...for a private venture. They also were considering that as a State agency, that they not only now own all the objects in the building (including all photographs) but that20they own the copyright and claimed that all of it is public domain. Simply insane. When I found out...I contacted the US Copyright Office, consulted with other local institutions and our State's Atty. General's Office.

Things seem better now but I still feel that there's a lack of understanding about how this works. We have many photos which are only copies...we simply owned a copy that we have the right to display and cannot permit anyone to publish. The museum may be able to assist someone who wishes to use the photo by perhaps, finding the rightful copyright owner so that they may have permission to use our copy or the owner may have the original available.

In other cases - this museum has many original photos for which the owner transferred the copyright to the museum and there are some that may appear to be original. I have also found cases where photos were donated and the donor was not the owner of the copyright and therefore I consider that the museum is not, and that we can only use these photographs to serve the mission of our museum (mainly, on display for the public).

Considering anything that is public domain as 'belonging' or under the ownership of everyone or all... is not the proper way to view something in the public domain. Maybe considering it as available for responsible use, not to be exploited, etc., would best serve the general public.

Private individuals have other options to find access/use of objects...withou t exploiting that which is held in the public trust.


-----Original Message-----
From: Zickuhr, Kristine <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wed, 17 Sep 2008 4:31 pm
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Copyright

Giles wrote: “What copying museums choose to allow the public to do is another question. It could be argued that restricting the public's ability to copy/photograph objects beyond what is required by law is unethical. The first tenet of the curator's hippocratic oath, as it were, should be to facilitate the uses the public wants to make of the collections in her custody (as far as _genuine_ conservation considerations allow), ensuring she is not reserving privileged use of, or access to, the collections for herself or her institution. In this view it is also misguided to prohibit the public from taking photographs of objects in the collection because it creates images 'outside the museum's control' or allows parties other than the museum to 'profit' from the collections. This is particularly the case in regard to artistic works on public display which are out of copyright and which are (supposed to be) in the public domain. To many it would seem wrong that museums and other owners of artistic works are able, for example, to subvert the statutory limitations placed on the duration of copyright by controlling and restricting access to, and copying of, works in which the copyright has expired and which are supposed to be in the ownership of everyone/no-one.

In my view the measure of success and quality of museums in the future wi ll be the extent to which their policies allow the collections in their custody to be opened up for use in all the ways the public wants, including photography of the collections, and which succeed in eradicating the proprietorial claims and instincts of curators that have plagued museums in the past.”


Giles,
 
You make valid points.  The vast majority of items in the museum where I work (aside from the photographs) have no inherent copyright issues.  It’s a collection of historical military objects.  So the issue for us is the copyright of the photos taken of the objects.
 
In one case many years ago a professional photographer was hired to take photos of objects in the collection.  The copyright wasn’t secured and the museu m itself could not release or publish those photos.  Talk about issues with access!  In another case a staff member of a nearby museum was allowed to take photographs of art work in the collection.  That museum is now selling prints and apparently we have no recourse.  We have a copyright expert on legal staff and we still run into issues.  So hopefully you can understand why we’re wary.  Perhaps not allowing any outside photographers is going too far and I admit it’s something that needs more thought and discussion in our institution.  Digital photography and the internet have changed a lot of things and we’re still negotiating those issues.
 
I agree with allowing public access to the degree it’s compatible with preservation.  We provide good quality images of any of the stable items in our collection, allow any member of the public to view or study any of our stable objects, and we’re soon to release our online collections database.  Plus we have free admission and programs. So I completely agree that public collections should serve the public. 
 < /FONT>
Say, are you the Giles Hudson at the Museum of the History of Science?  I couldn’t help but notice that your online collections database images are watermarked against public downloads.  So maybe your institution has a bit of proprietary instinct as well.  J 
 
Kristine Zickuhr
Registrar
Wisconsin Veterans Museum
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