The author of this note may wish to investigate the applicability of
copyright law to items of functional design.  Copyright cannot extend to
the functional elements of items like furniture -- only to those aspects of
design that can be isolated from functionality. The author may wish to
consult his copyright attorney, but certain designs, inasmuch as they
cannot be separated from their function -- and this may include modernist
furniture -- may not be copyrightable, making such agreements as that cited
below unsupportable in court.

Robert Baron
[log in to unmask]

At 09:11 AM 8/15/97 -0500, you wrote:
>---------------------- Information from the mail header
-----------------------
>Sender:       Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
>Poster:       "Dean, Patty" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject:      Exclusive license agreements for reproductions from collections
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
>
>Greetings Colleagues! Does anyone out there have a sample or boilerplate
>of an exclusivee licensing agreement they've negotiated with a copyright
>holder they could fax or e-mail me? Our institution is planning to
>reproduce some Modernist architect-designed furniture in our collection.
> The architects (who donated the furniture) retained copyright interests
>& all parties involved wish our institution to have sole/exclusive
>reproduction rights to the objects.  So, the standard non-exclusive
>license agreement many art museums use when they acquire an artist's
>work won't work in this case. I appreciate any help you all can give me!
>Thanks in advance!
>Patty Dean
>Supervisory Curator
>Museum Collections Dept.
>Minnesota Historical Society
>345 Kellogg Boulevard West
>St. Paul, MN  55102-1906 USA
>
>E-mail:  [log in to unmask]
>Phone:  612-297-7444
>FAX:  612-297-2967
>