My sentiments -- and our experience -- exactly. Do they give their CR-ROMS away for free? Will they produce a CD-ROM for your museum for free? Why in the world should you give away *your* product for free? Supplying your photos to their project costs you money. No, publicity for your museum is *not* compensation: it doesn't pay for those costs. Publicity is an extra, a nice by-product of your sale. Nothing is worth more to a museum budget than payment up front. -------------------------------------------------------------- name: amalyah keshet director, visual resources / the israel museum, jerusalem e-mail: [log in to unmask] date: 06/19/96 visit our Web site at http://www.imj.org.il ________________________________________________________________ > >On Tue, 18 Jun 1996 19:47:17 -0400 Melanie Solomon wrote: >>Hear, hear! I second that emotion! >> >>It is one thing to make the occasional exception for other non-profits >as a >>gesture of good will, but profit-making ventures that whine about paying > > >a >>fee for use of museum/archive collections don't deserve an ounce of >sympathy. >> >>One important point to note is that you absolutely MUST NOT sign away >>indefinite and/or un-specific rights to use the collection images. >(Many >>museums signed away reproduction rights early in the CD-ROM era, and now > > >have >>little recourse in recouping lost revenues.) You should think about >charging >>a royalty fee in addition to your standard publication fee so that you >can >>earn something for every CD sold. This is important in that it is >extremely >>easy to churn out hundreds of thousands of CDs above and beyond an >initial >>run. >> >>Non-profit does not mean having to play dumb and roll over for everyone >with >>a sob story. Why is it that we are made to feel guilty about trying to >earn >>our pittance to buy a few Mylar envelopes? I, for one, have overcome >this >>sorry state and am totally guilt-free. (Here's hoping the museums >follow >>suit!) >> >>Melanie Solomon >>[log in to unmask] >> >> >>Robert MacKimmie wrote: >><<CD-ROM technology may be glitzy, fun technology but it is a >>publishing medium just the same, so similar use fees should apply. >>One thing about the publishing industry is that you will witness >>"song and dance" justifications about why you shouldn't charge use >>fees. >><< >><<When the archive community, at large, responds uniformly in an >>affirmative and rightfully "standing our ground" way, they will cease >>to "pull the wool over." I've heard many wildly spun justifications >>during my years doing photo rights and reproduction. >><< >><<Cheers, and hold the high ground.>>