Bill, legally if you do not have permission, you may not use the work. There is no mechanism in US copyright law to help you. However, if you are based in Canada, there is an unlocatable copyright owner provision which can help you just in that circumstance. And it is possible that you can use it if using a Canadian work (though I would have to double check to see who is eligible if you are not in Canada.)
Lesley Lesley Ellen Harris lesley at copyrightlaws.com www.copyrightanswers.blogspot.com On Sep 14, 2009, at 2:29 PM, Weinstein, William wrote: We are evaluating our policy regarding obtaining rights for images of works we publish in our online collection section. The issue of what to do with works where there is an apparent copyright holder that can either not be contacted or does not respond to repeated permission requests. Does anyone have a position of what to do regarding works in this particular state of limbo? Bill Weinstein _______________________________________________ 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/
