Intellectual Property and the Arts
Libraries, Archives, and Museums
Frequently Asked Questions
DIGITAL IMAGES AND THE SLIDE LIBRARY
Q: We would like to digitize slides from our institution’s slide library for classroom presentation and student review on the Web, but we are uncertain about the copyright status of the slides. How should we proceed?
Read the answer at http://www.collegeart.org/ip/qa3.html.
IMAGES AND THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
Q: I want to publish images of three works of art in a book I am writing. The book is to be published by a nonprofit press. The images (a painting, a photograph, and a drawing) are in the collections, respectively, of a U.S. museum, a photo archive, and a library. The copyright on these works of art has expired; they are in the public domain, which means, I think, that they can be legally copied. Can I reproduce photographs of these works in my book without asking the institutions’ permission? Would it make a difference if I were publishing at a for-profit press? And does it matter if I myself took the photos of the images or got them from the institutions?
Read the answer at http://www.collegeart.org/ip/qa1.
Studies, Resources, and Some Answers
The Samuel H. Kress foundation funded a study of museum policies and licenses for the use of images in their collections. Kenneth D. Crews and Melissa A. Brown presented their findings in “Copyright, Museums, and Licensing of Art Images” (2011) through the following reports:
- Control of Museum Art Images: The Reach and Limits of Copyright and Licensing
- Art Image Copyright and Licensing: Compilation and Summary of Museum Policies
- Art Image Copyright and Licensing: Terms and Conditions Governing Reproduction and Distribution
- Art Image Copyright and Licensing: Terms and Conditions Governing Appearance and Composition of Images
- Art Image Copyright and Licensing: Terms and Conditions Governing Third Party Rights
- Art Image Copyright and Licensing: Bibliography
Know Your Copy Rights: Using Copyrighted Works in Academic Settings is an educational project of the Association of Research Libraries to assist faculty who are using the works of others for teaching purposes.
DIRC: Digital Image Rights Computator (2007)
The Digital Image Rights Computator (DIRC) program, developed by the visual Resources Association, assists the user in assessing the intellectual property status of a specific image documenting a work of art, a designed object, or a portion of the built environment. Understanding the presence or absence of rights in the various aspects of a given image allows the user to make informed decisions regarding the intended educational uses of that image.
“DMCA: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act”
“Limitations on Copyright Owners for Libraries and Archives: Points of Contention and Agreement in an Examination of Section 108,” by Kathleen B. Saylor (Copyright Alliance, 2010)
AAM Member Museum Rights & Reproductions Survey 2003–2004 Results, sponsored by the Rights and Reproductions Information Network (RARIN) of the Registrars Committee of the American Association of Museums
Reproduction Charging Models & Rights Policy for Digital Images in American Art Museums: A Mellon Foundation Study, by Simon Tanner, Kings Digital Consultancy Service (2004)
“Art Museum Images in Scholarly Publishing,” by Nancy Allen. Connexions (July 8, 2009)
“The Catalog of Copyright Entries: Registrations from 1923 to 1949”
“The Catalog of Copyright Entries: 1950–1977 (with Renewals of Copyright from 1922–1950)”
“‘Yes, you can!’: Where you don’t even need ‘fair use,’” by Peter Jaszi, Washington College of Law, American University (May 2006)
“Public Domain Art in an Age of Easier Mechanical Reproducibility,” by Kenneth Hamma (D-Lib Magazine 11, no. 11 [November 2005])
