>http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2007/05/18/group_defies_smithsonian_copyright_claim/ >
Group defies Smithsonian copyright claim >Brett Zongker >The Associated Press >May 21, 2007 > >Grabbing pictures of iconic Smithsonian Institution artifacts just >got a whole lot easier. > >Before, if you wanted to get a picture of the Wright Brothers' >plane, you could go to the Smithsonian Images Web site and pay for a >print or high-resolution image after clicking through several >warnings about copyrights and other restrictions -- and only if you >were a student, teacher or pledging not to use it to make money. > >Now, you can just go to the free photo-sharing Web site flickr.com. >A nonprofit group is challenging the copyrights and restrictions on >images being sold by the Smithsonian. But instead of going to court, >the group downloaded all 6,288 photos online and posted them >Wednesday night on the free Internet site. (more) BTW, regarding the claim that all Smithsonian photos are in the public domain because they were created by government employees: several years ago I checked this out. Not all of their photographs are created by Smithsonian employees, but by for-hire photographers. Thus they are indeed protected by copyright, transferred by the photographer to the Smithsonian. Amalyah Keshet Head of Image Resources & Copyright Management The Israel Museum, Jerusalem www.imj.org.il Chair, MCN IP special interest group www.mcn.edu Blog www.musematic.net
