Randy is correct. In the USA you only guarantee ownership of copyright for commissioned work-for-hire if there is an explicit section in your contract with the artist or photographer or other contractee in the contract. Otherwise you are possibly looking at a court case. Ownership of an artwork or an object does not mean you the donor or you own the copyright. Copyright belongs the the creator(s) of the work unless the copyright has been legally transferred or until the term of the copyright has expired. In the USA that is the life of the creator(s) plus 70 years (there are a few exceptions to that pre-1972). So transferring copyright or all rights in a deed of gift means nothing unless the donor either is the creator, owns the copyright as an heir, or they have legally had the copyright transferred to them. I teach an online course on "Copyright and Intellectual Property 101 for Museums" that covers this in depth. Cheers! Dave David Harvey Senior Conservator & Museum Consultant Los Angeles CA USA www.cityofangelsconservation.weebly.com On Oct 11, 2016 3:03 PM, "Randy Little" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: This is just not true. Commissioned works DO NOT MEAN work for hire unless the contract STATES work for hire. I am commissioned to do work all the time that I retain the copyright on. Randy S. Little http://www.rslittle.com/ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2325729/ On Tue, Oct 11, 2016 at 5:17 PM, William Shepherd < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hello Leonard, > > > > Maybe the laws are a bit different south of the border but > your institution would already have ownership and any associated copyright > since you commissioned the artist to do the work; however, you mention a > contact. Depending on the wording of the contract this could change the > ‘automatic terms’ of commissioning a work. If a Deed of Gift or transfer of > ownership of some kind is needed based on the terms of the contract then > you could use your regular paperwork but I would specify that it is going > into the study collection versus the permanent collection if you don’t > indicate this somewhere on the paperwork already. In the future I wouldn’t > include the need for a transfer of ownership in a contract when > commissioning an artist unless it is needed for US federal/state law as the > contract with the artist should deal with this. > > > > Your deed of gift may already include transferring any associated > copyright as part of the transfer of ownership. If it doesn’t I would > include it in the future. In Canada we also have moral rights, likely you > have something similar, these cannot be transferred, only waived. I would > include this in your terms of the deed of gift as well so the artist cannot > cause problems in the use of the works down the road. Depending on the law > down there commissioning a work would already transfer copyright to you > unless the contract states otherwise so you may already be covered in this > part but the deed of gift should cover it as well. > > > > Hopefully this helps! > > > > William Shepherd > > Collections Officer > > Swift Current Museum > > 44 Robert Street West > > Swift Current, Saskatchewan > > S9H 4M9 > > Phone: 306-778-4815 > > Fax: 306-778-4818 > > > > *From:* Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On > Behalf Of *leonard cicero > *Sent:* Tuesday, October 11, 2016 10:11 AM > *To:* [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* [MUSEUM-L] Paperwork need for a commissioned work > > > > Hi All, > > > > I have been tasked with creating a Deed of Gift for a couple of hand > painted (replica) signs that my institution commissioned from an artist. > The contract with said artist states that a deed of gift will be sent after > receipt of the works. The works will likely be added to our study > collection but not our permanent collection. > > > > My question to you is: Is a Deed of Gift the correct paperwork? If not, > what is? Also, do I need the consigned artist to sign a transfer of > Copyright? > > > > Thanks in advance, > > > > Leonard M. Cicero > > > ------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link: > http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1 > > ------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link: > http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1 > ------------------------------ To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1 ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . 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