Artists or their estates retain all copyrights to their works for 50 to 70
years after the death of the artist.  Some artists will give reproduction
rights to museums, but this is not automatic.  Most living artists retain
all copyrights but elect to sign a  Non-Exlusive license for an institution
giving them the authority to reproduce images under certain circumstances
and conditions.
After the copyright term is up, the work goes into "public domain."  The
museum would not hold copyright to the work.  What the museum would hold
copyright to is all museum photography of that work.  In the case where the
artist is still alive and still retains copyright, one would have to obtain
not only permission from the artist (or estate) but also from the copyright
holder of the photography of that work (in most cases the museum).

Alan Miller
Photo Archivist/
Rights and Permissions Coordinator
Seattle Art Museum
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>

The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the
Seattle Art Museum.


        -----Original Message-----
        From:   Stephen Nowlin [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
        Sent:   Thursday, November 05, 1998 1:51 AM
        To:     [log in to unmask]
        Subject:        Permission to Reproduce

        Hi, all -

        I'm working on a project with a museum that will be lending numerous
        works from their collection to our gallery.  For the catalogue, they
are
        spending a lot of effort trying to track down artists or their
estates in
        order to gain permission for reproduction.

        I thought that museums held the right to reproduce works in their
        collections.  I've borrowed from other museums and reproduced their
works
        in catalogues and never had this issue come up.  Anyone know what
the
        copyright law is in these matters?

        Thanks,

        Stephen

        ____________________________________________________________________
        Stephen Nowlin                     Director, Williamson Gallery
        Vice President                     Producer, Art Center Online
        Art Center College of Design       www.artcenter.edu
        ____________________________________________________________________