Since orphan works legislation has not passed, classifying a work as an orphan work has no legal significance: it is purely an internal administrative matter. And consequently, there is no requirement about how to label things - it is up to you. (Of course, since March, 1989 there has been no requirement to mark any copyrighted work. There are only restrictions on removing existing copyright notices.)
But while there may be no legal requirement to mark works, I think it is always useful to provide as much information to users as possible. If you know who the copyright owner is (and that is not always the case with orphan works), why wouldn't you want to let people know? The exact wording would depend on how much information you have. If you are sure that someone has the copyright, say so, and give the date if you know it. If you are presuming or assuming that the artist has the copyright, then say that as well. And if you don't know who owns the copyright, then say "current (c) owner unknown." Should you also indicate the authority under which you have made the reproduction? Since it would have to be a fair use, I am not sure it is necessary, especially if you have terms governing the use of the reproductions elsewhere. Peter B. Hirtle??? CUL Intellectual Property Officer Scholarly Resources and Special Collections Cornell University Library??????????????????? 221 Olin Library????????????????????????????? Ithaca, NY? 14853 peter.hirtle at cornell.edu t.? 607.255-4033 f.? 607.255-2493 http://www.copyright.cornell.edu Author of "Copyright and Cultural Institutions": http://bit.ly/ciU1rg -----Original Message----- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Cathryn Goodwin Sent: Monday, May 10, 2010 3:58 PM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: [MCN-L] IP SIG - orphan works question When due diligence has been done to find a copyright holder, and the decision has been made to classify a work as an orphan work, is a museum still required to place a "(c) the artist" statement when reproducing the work? (artist death date 2005) Thanks Cathryn _______________________________________________ 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/
