Absolutely agree, of course. And see today's NYT article about the Rijksmuseum's contribution to the way forward: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/29/arts/design/museums-mull-public-use-of-online-art-images.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130529&_r=0
?We?re a public institution, and so the art and objects we have are, in a way, everyone?s property,? said [Taco Dibbits, the director of collections at the Rijksmuseum,] in an interview. ??With the Internet, it?s so difficult to control your copyright or use of images that we decided we?d rather people use a very good high-resolution image of the ?Milkmaid? from the Rijksmuseum rather than using a very bad reproduction,? he said, referring to that Vermeer painting from around 1660." David Green redgen at mac.com @redgen 203-520-9155 On May 27, 2013, at 8:46 AM, Kenneth Hamma <khamma at me.com> wrote: > Thanks, Peter. > > It is dismaying that anyone could not imagine that there's any way around > the wide variety of charges and procedures that collections - perhaps > sometimes thoughtlessly? - interpose between themselves the public for whom > they are stewards. For those, here are some starting points. > > https://images.nga.gov/en/page/show_home_page.html > > http://britishart.yale.edu/collections/using-collections/image-use > > http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_this_site/terms_of_use/free_image_service.aspx > > https://www.lacma.org/about/contact-us/terms-use > > http://thewalters.org/rights-reproductions.aspx > > Knowing that it can be bothersome to visit websites and read, let me copy the > simple image rights/use statement from the Walters Art Museum: > > All photography on our website(s) is governed by Creative Commons Licensing > and can be used without cost or specific permission. Artworks in the > photographs are in the public domain due to age. The photographs of > two-dimensional objects have also been released into the public domain. > Photographs of three-dimensional objects and all descriptions have been > released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported > License and the GNU Free Documentation License. > > Cheers, > > ken > > Kenneth Hamma > > Yale Center for British Art > kenneth.hamma at yale.edu > > > > On May 27, 2013, at 7:05 AM, Peter B. Hirtle <pbh6 at cornell.edu> wrote: > >> For a different perspective from a different field, MCN-L readers might be >> interested in a forthcoming paper from John Overholt addressing the future >> of special collections in libraries. It is called "Five theses on the >> future of special collections," and a preprint is found at >> http://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/10601790/overholt.pdf. >> >> One of his five theses speaks precisely to the issue of permissions. It >> begins this way: >> >> The future of special collections is openness. >> >> We are not the creators of our collections; we are their stewards. They were >> entrusted to us to preserve them, certainly, but preservation without use is >> an empty victory. It ought to be our primary purpose at all times to >> minimize barriers to use, so it is all the more shameful when we interpose >> such barriers ourselves, not out of concern for the health of the >> collections, but out of the misguided belief that we are entitled to >> control, even to monetize, their use. When we claim copyright over our >> digital collections, or impose permission fees or licensing terms on users, >> we are arguably misrepresenting the law, and certainly violating one of the >> central ethical tenets of the profession: to promote the free dissemination >> of information. >> >> It would seem to me that image permissions would be much simplified if only >> permission of the copyright owner had to be secured (and then only if the >> use was not a fair use). >> >> Peter Hirtle >> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu] On Behalf >>> Of Deborah Wythe >>> Sent: Friday, May 24, 2013 3:59 PM >>> To: mcn-l at mcn.edu >>> Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Permissions >>> >>> I don't think there's any way around the wide variety of charges and >>> procedures, but I was struck by the frustration of the writer, who clearly >>> had >>> never done image acquisition before. It's a skill, just like any other. >>> Filling in >>> for our R&R coordinator, I've learned just how many emails it can take to >>> get >>> all the information we need to help them. >>> >>> I've often wondered if there was a way to connect museum staff with art >>> history grad programs to get this topic on their curriculum. Shouldn't every >>> budding writer have a brief tutorial on copyright, image acquisition, image >>> quality, etc? >>> >>> Then again, when I was in grad school and suggested to my advisor that we >>> put together a guide to doing primary source research, he put me off, saying >>> that we should all be figuring it out ourselves and that was one way they >>> sorted the wheat from the chaff. >>> >>> I won't address the differing policies and prices -- that's a different (and >>> difficult topic) -- but putting chocolate on our fee schedules is an >>> interesting >>> concept. >>> >>> Deborah Wythe >>> Brooklyn Museumdeborahwythe at hotmail.com >>> >>>> From: lesleyeharris at comcast.net >>>> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 12:06:38 -0400 >>>> To: mcn-l at mcn.edu >>>> Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Permissions >>>> >>>> Whoops--article is at >>> http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/comment/opinion/opinion-snap- >>> decisions/2003969.article. >>>> >>>> >>>> On May 24, 2013, at 12:05 PM, Lesley Ellen Harris >>> <lesleyeharris at comcast.net> wrote: >>>> >>>> This article on obtaining permissions from museums will be of interest to >>> MCN members. >>>> >>>> Lesley >>>> >>>> lesley at copyrightlaws.com >>>> www.copyrightlaws.com >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> 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://mcn.edu/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://mcn.edu/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://mcn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > The MCN-L archives can be found at: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/
