The argument that I made was not intended to be based on a strict interpretation of copyright law but on public responsibility. So, with respect to my note, most of this is beside the point and a restatement of traditional argument.
I should have been clearer in my assertion of the business decision. The notion of copyright is indeed a legal matter. Whether or not to assert copyright (not merely how much to charge) is, however, a business decision as there are numerous alternative courses for the creator. Among these are a variety of Creative Commons licensing schemes to a complete waiver of copyright. ken Kenneth Hamma +1 310 270 8008 khamma at me.com 368 Patel Place Palm Springs CA 92264 On May 6, 2009, at 3:40 AM, Amalyah Keshet [akeshet at imj.org.il] wrote: > Just to stir the pot a bit: > > Not every museum or archive is a "public charity." Even if that is > a particular museum's legal status, it doesn't affect the legal > application of copyright protection to any photographs it produces. > > The assertion of copyright in photographs (including "visual > surrogates") is indeed a legal matter. It is a business decision > whether or not to charge money for licensing these images. There is > a clear legal distinction between the photograph as a protectable > creation and the underlying object / work / subject that appears in > that photograph. > > As to "theft," yes it does happen, and yes it obviously and > logically results in a loss of potential income. The question is, > how much, and does it matter in the end. And the size of the image > certainly doesn't matter. A small 72dpi image can be lifted and > used in advertising on a commercial website with no effort, > resulting in a loss of significant potential licensing income. This > is simple logic. And in this particular example, it's legally > simple: it's copyright infringement, not "sharing." "There is no > business model in stealing images" -- of course there is; I've run > into several, um, publishing establishments based on that business > model. > > The interesting issues are in the less blatant examples -- real > digital sharing, not commercial rip-off. How do we deal with that? > Because we're not going to get anywhere by calling normative digital > activity, including sharing, "theft." And some of our institutions > really do (sorry, Ken) depend on income from image licensing, among > other sources, to stay alive. We need new business models. We need > to figure out how to be Google: how to not produce a product, not > to offer anything more than thin air (a platform, access, ranking, > ones-and-zeros) and yet to make billions, become the source of all > knowledge, and take over the world. > > > Amalyah Keshet > Head of Image Resources & Copyright Management > The Israel Museum, Jerusalem > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu] On Behalf > Of Kenneth Hamma > Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 10:40 PM > To: Museum Computer Network Listserv > Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Re image 'theft' > > Regardless the size of the imagined revenue loss, the notion of > 'theft' may not be entirely appropriate here, speaking only of > payment for IP licensing not payment for services or product. > Remember that the institutions mentioned so far operate as public > charities - receiving a tax benefit but also encumbered with certain > public- benefit responsibilities as a result. And leaving aside > works still under copyright, for which we all have well known > obligations, as well as works that maintain vital roles in the > communities in which they were created, these collections consist of > natural specimens or creative works now in the public domain. Who > in this scenario would be thieving from whom? > > For these works, the assertion of copyright in visual surrogates and > metadata is not a legal decision (so don't start with lawyers) but a > business decision that has on more than one occasion been described > purely as an effort to maintain monopoly control. Is it possible to > square this with public charities managing public domain collections? > > ken > > > Kenneth Hamma > > +1 310 270 8008 > khamma at me.com > > 368 Patel Place > Palm Springs CA 92264 > > On May 5, 2009, at 12:59 PM, Proctor, Nancy wrote: > >> Thanks to Matt Morgan for raising the question of who has actually >> lost revenues from putting images, even high quality ones, online. I >> share his skepticism that it's actually as big a problem as we >> fear. I >> suspect that it will take less effort and fewer resources to deal >> with >> the small number of thefts that will arise than all the wringing of >> hands and hiring of lawyers for pre-emptive action that we currently >> engage in. >> >> We're discussing business models for the Smithsonian at the moment, >> so >> I added Matt's comments at this link: >> >> http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/message/view/Business >> +Mo >> dels+W >> orkshop+Real-Time+Notes/11773461 >> >> This is a public wiki, so you're all welcome to participate in the >> conversation! >> >> Nancy >> >> Nancy Proctor >> Head of New Media Initiatives >> Smithsonian American Art Museum >> MRC 970 PO Box 37012 >> Washington DC 20013-7012 >> USA >> >> t: +1-202-633-8439 >> c: +1-301-642-6257 >> f: +1-202-633-8455 >> >> http://www.americanart.si.edu >> http://eyelevel.si.edu/ >> >> On 5/5/09 3:00 PM, "mcn-l-request at mcn.edu" <mcn-l-request at mcn.edu> >> wrote: >> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu on behalf of Eric Johnson >>> Sent: Tue 5/5/2009 11:55 AM >>> To: Museum Computer Network Listserv >>> Subject: Re: [MCN-L] image sizes >>> >>> Matt raises an interesting point: has anybody ever had any problems >>> with people "lifting" high-quality images of your collection without >>> seeking permission and making money with them (posters, t-shirts, >>> etc.)? >>> >>> The only thing I can think of off-hand is more in the vein of taking >>> print-quality images and using them in books without permission. >>> But >>> then again, I'm not familiar with any example of that actually >>> happening; it's just a worry passed down from higher-ups. >>> >>> But I'm curious about any specific examples of such unauthorized >>> reproduction that anybody might have. >>> >>> --E. >>> >>> Eric D. M. Johnson >>> Web Services Librarian >>> Jefferson Library, Monticello >>> P.O. Box 316 >>> Charlottesville, VA 22902 >>> Phone: (434) 984-7540 | Fax: (434) 984-7546 >>> http://www.monticello.org/library/ >>> ejohnson at monticello.org >>> >>> >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: Morgan, Matt [mailto:matt.morgan at metmuseum.org] >>> Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 11:44 AM >>> To: Museum Computer Network Listserv >>> Subject: Re: [MCN-L] image sizes >>> >>> I get it, definitely. There are lots of things we should be doing, >>> but don't, purely for least-cost path analysis. But it's raining >>> like >>> crazy here so it's a good day to sit in my office and rant about one >>> of my bugbears a little bit. >>> >>> We (the museum community) have hardly ever (never?) seen a >>> significant, commercial, inappropriate, reuse of museum object >>> images. It just isn't done--there is no business model in stealing >>> images. Getting images of more than 1000px (from Flickr, for >>> example) >>> of our objects is a trivial matter, so it cannot be that increasing >>> image sizes on our own websites will make this problem materialize. >>> >>> I am utterly, totally sympathetic to the political problems we all >>> face. >>> I just think it's time to get over this image-size thing and start >>> letting people enjoy our images instead of squinting at them or >>> blowing them up until they're fuzzy. >>> >>> Thanks, >>> Matt >>> >>> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum >> Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) >> >> To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu >> >> To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: >> http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l >> >> The MCN-L archives can be found at: >> http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/ > > _______________________________________________ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum > Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > The MCN-L archives can be found at: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/ > _______________________________________________ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum > Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > The MCN-L archives can be found at: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/