Copyright is copyright regardless or who owns the piece. Unless there was a work for hire contract that specifically transfered all rights to the intitution the artist still owns the rights to the artistic work regardless if they were paid or not. Copyright occurs automatically as soon as an artistic work is rendered into tangible form. If the artist does not register the work they lose some legal advantages in court in terms of lawsuits but they do not lose copyright by not registering. So it is always best to consult and get permission from living artists or the heirs of deceased ones as long as the copyright is in force. Here's a helpful link: http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/ Cheers! Dave David Harvey Senior Conservator and Museum Conservator Los Angeles CA www.cityofangelsconservation.weebly.com On Mar 19, 2014 12:14 PM, "Mark Janzen" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hi Victoria, > > Is the artist (Mr. Lau) unwilling or unable to help you with the > restoration? I would think the resource of having a living artist would > potentially solve your problem. > > Definitely begin by documenting everything now, including anything > indicating how long the object has been with the museum. Even without > formal documentation, the abandoned property clock technically started > ticking at the point of your earliest documentation of any kind. > > Mark Janzen > > > On Mon, Mar 17, 2014 at 9:01 PM, Victoria Ledford <[log in to unmask]>wrote: > >> Hello, >> >> I am new to the listserv and joined by recommendation from my professor. >> I am a museum studies student in a museum project course with a local >> museum and have a question. I have been tasked to come up with proposal >> options for six crafted cockpit replicas for the Pacific Aviation Museum I >> am working with. The items were created by a gentleman, Karl Lau, as a >> commemorative to his fallen comrades. The items were then purchased and >> given to the museum. The donor, Fred Turner, is deceased. No paperwork >> (receipt, inventory, registration etc) can yet be found in the museum. >> Obviously I don't know the conditions of the gift. >> >> The cockpits include authentic rare airplane parts that have been >> reconfigured into a crafty mini cockpit that has partially working lights >> and sound. The items, based on past use, were deemed electrically unsafe. >> (a guest had been shocked by one of them) They have also been found to be >> rather fragile, suffering some damage in the past when put on the floor as >> an interactive. Some of them have been scavenged for parts. During a phone >> interview with the artist/crafter he was aware of the fact and was saddened >> that the items had been used for parts. I am working in the restoration >> shop under my advisor, the curator. He is suggesting one of my proposals >> include rewiring them to a battery versus electric source. He has also >> mentioned perhaps sanding and repainting them. He does not seem confident >> that paperwork will be found as it was before his position and documenting >> was scarce. >> >> My question is: >> >> Can I legally or ethically repaint and rewire a crafted artistic artifact >> that has no paperwork? >> >> Thanks for your help, >> Victoria >> >> ========================================================= >> 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] . 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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).