How many museums or other cultural institutions have been successfully
sued over copyright infringement?
I ask because I feel the many problems people have with a)
understanding copyright law and b) applying it to their various
collections whether 'digital' or 'analogue' echo some of the ethical
dilemmas we face with while managing our collections, e.g. gifts which
are later disputed by family members, revocation of a donation, and of
course, many items with insecure title documentation.
It is in the nature of our jobs to think ethically and make a decision
on the 'higher right' or a situation where none of the options are
particularly 'wrong'. Certainly this seems to be in the spirit of the
ethical guidance of the Museums Association. Followed successfully,
when disputes arise, they can in most cases be solved through
diplomacy without the need for lawyers.
A sensible curatorial attitude towards images published on the web
would go a long way towards reconciling confusion and inaction over
rights management and licensing. This was the attitude I had towards
a large digitisation project which used the 'no known copyright' adage
for the selection process (this was also pre CC and CC+). Had we
erred towards not digitising parts of our photographic collections
because we simply did not know - also hampered by the fact the much of
the collection held photographs of photographs - we would have made a
very small selection, unrepresentative of this publically-owned
collection, available to the public.
While I agree with certain comments that CC and CC+ may not suit all
situations, I would also say that trying to impose commercial models
on cultural institutions may also not suit all situations (a propos
comments on museums needing to act more like businesses before they
have to) - how profit-making is selling rights to images for cultural
organisations?
It seems to me that the gist of most of the points raised in this
debate is that we have a responsibility to manage our collections
ethically (copyright and licensing) but also that in a growing number
of cases the better curatorial decision for institutions who hold
image-based collections is to make them as widely available as
possible, over a more cautious decision to do nothing or do that
really meany thing of protecting against the 'risk' of 'unauthorised
use' by rendering that which you present on your website worse than
useless for research or enjoyment.
Tehmina
On 21/04/2008, Bud Robert <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I was replying to Mike more than yourself.
>
> You have asked exactly the right question: what is the `good practice'
> we should be seen to have followed to protect our institutions?
>
> Mike and I have discussed such issues privately over the years. It is
> very good to have an informed public debate.
>
>
> Robert Bud
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
> Tony Crockford
>
> Sent: 21 April 2008 13:06
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: copyright licensing and museums /CC
>
>
> On 21 Apr 2008, at 12:58, Bud Robert wrote:
>
> > For the moment copyright infringement is a criminal act not merely
> > civil issue. So we cannot just ignore these issues.
>
> I don't think I suggested that?
>
> or were you making a general statement?
>
> (I agree, we can't ignore them, hence my "was there somewhere that
> clearly defined best practice" question)
>
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--
Tehmina Goskar, MA AMA
[log in to unmask]
Web Communication Development for Culture, Heritage and Academia
Museum Specialist
Historian
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