Hello All -- It's always worth noting that a fair use can be made of any image, no matter theresolution or size.
Whether and how an institution chooses to control access to images of works in its care is of course a different question. Michael points to some great examples of institutions that are opting to provide more access to images of art -- in many cases, art which is itself no longer in copyright. Which leads to another important point about proper and improper assertions of copyright -- There can be no valid copyright in images that are merely "slavish" reproductions of two-dimensional works, no matter that some institutions may continue to make such claims. So with respect to those "slavish" types of images, questions about resolution and size are simply irrelevant from a legal perspective -- and no CC license attached to any such image could be valid. Photographs of objects, installations, architecture, performance (etc.) often need to be treated differently. Those images may be properly copyrighted. But on the question of claiming a separate copyright in any image merely because of a difference in resolution or size, the right answer from the legal perspective is "no". If anyone has different authority, or an organizational policy with respect to this, it would be enormously helpful if you could share that, on or off this list. Where a CC license is properly attached to any image, the terms of that specific CC license would apply to all resolutions and sizes of that image. All best, Virginia (formerly VP and GC of Creative Commons) ? >________________________________ > From: "Edson, Michael" <EDSONM at si.edu> >To: Museum Computer Network Listserv <mcn-l at mcn.edu> >Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2014 10:24 AM >Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Different Copyrights / Different Image Resolutions > > >It's a great question and a fascinating topic, Kate. >I've cross-posted this question over to the Open Knowledge Foundation's >Open-GLAM mailing list. (I'm pretty sure the discussions are available in >a public archive, I just can't put my finger on the link right now. D'oh!) > >As a point of reference/argument, I'd like to see OKFN's Open Glam >Principles (http://openglam.org/principles/) champion the practice of >providing equal/permissive rights to all derivatives of a given >image/resource. > >I've often seen institutions congratulate themselves on providing "open >access to collections", when what they're actually doing is providing a >somewhat restrictive license on thumbnail images, and enclosing higher >quality images behind a more restrictive licensing/access regimen or >paywall. > >There are many instances, particularly in research and for re-use, in >which access to a thumbnail is no help at all. Of course, it's certainly >within the property owner's rights to do this, but I'd prefer that these >graduated access arrangements not be confused with the kind of open >environments that the Getty, the National Gallery of Art, the Walters, the >Rijksmuseum, and many others are providing. > >;) > > > >On 3/12/14 11:11 AM, "Amalyah Keshet" <akeshet at imj.org.il> wrote: > >>Kate: >> >>If an image is a protected (copyrighted) work, it doesn't matter what >>size or format it's in.? It's protected, and the copyright holder has the >>exclusive right to reproduce and distribute it and to make derivatives of >>it.? (Thumbnail images for purposes of identification, for example in a >>database or search engine, would be the possible exception.) >> >>However, that doesn't mean one cannot make an institutional policy >>decision to treat different formats and sizes differently in terms of >>how you distribute, license, or give away image files for various >>purposes.? This follows from the above. >> >>Amalyah Keshet >>Chair, MCN IP SIG >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >>Amalyah Keshet >>Head of Image Resources and >>Tel. +972-2-6708064 >> >>Fax +972-2-6771340 >>akeshet at imj.org.il >>The Israel Museum, Jerusalem >> >> >> >> >>-----Original Message----- >>From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu] On Behalf Of >>Kate Blanch >>Sent: 12 March, 2014 4:58 PM >>To: 'mcn-l at mcn.edu' >>Subject: [MCN-L] Different Copyrights / Different Image Resolutions >> >>Hello MCN, >>This may be a rather dense question regarding copyright law...but as it's >>outside my area of expertise I figured this community could provide a >>great reference point. My own research is not turning up an good >>answers/examples either! >> >>Do any institutions assign different copyright statements to derivatives >>of the same image, depending on that image's resolution? >> >>Take for example, a photo of a Greek urn in a museum collection. Would it >>be common practice for a high-resolution TIFF of this photo to bear a >>"(c)Museum Institution, 2014" statement, while a medium-resolution JPG of >>the same photo would bear a "(c) Creative Commons License"? >> >>Does this scenario fit within basic copyright law or guidelines? >>If anyone is differentiating copyright statements based on image >>resolution, do you have this policy written/documented in a shareable way? >> >>Thanks for any feedback you might have! >> >> >>Kate Blanch >>Administrator, Museum Databases >>kblanch at thewalters.org / 410.547.9000 ext. 266 >> >>The Walters Art Museum >>600 N. Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201 >>www.thewalters.org<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=http://www.t >>hewalters.org/&k=diZKtJPqj4jWksRIF4bjkw%3D%3D%0A&r=OrleOIb4%2FRXNkzweNOIBM >>A%3D%3D%0A&m=wL0PXJcQg%2Bvw13a7za8xzkNTUBz%2Fpc8H9qCXT9PYrng%3D%0A&s=3c1cd >>ed5fd5b36c4476d444291c8025dbd4b25cf6bf0219ed9449f2357981d31> >> >>_______________________________________________ >>You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum >>Computer Network >>(https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=http://www.mcn.edu/&k=diZKtJPq >>j4jWksRIF4bjkw%3D%3D%0A&r=OrleOIb4%2FRXNkzweNOIBMA%3D%3D%0A&m=wL0PXJcQg%2B >>vw13a7za8xzkNTUBz%2Fpc8H9qCXT9PYrng%3D%0A&s=c1db4be32e3cfa28c1554916868a1d >>9c0310327bdf458aa6292cf98ccbec0639) >> >>To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu >> >>To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: >>https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=http://mcn.edu/mailman/listinfo >>/mcn-l&k=diZKtJPqj4jWksRIF4bjkw%3D%3D%0A&r=OrleOIb4%2FRXNkzweNOIBMA%3D%3D% >>0A&m=wL0PXJcQg%2Bvw13a7za8xzkNTUBz%2Fpc8H9qCXT9PYrng%3D%0A&s=a850c0b0fd549 >>5d5c075e4eabecee4134a464e0d39988add52fee3dfa4795882 >> >>The MCN-L archives can be found at: >>https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=http://mcn.edu/pipermail/mcn-l/ >>&k=diZKtJPqj4jWksRIF4bjkw%3D%3D%0A&r=OrleOIb4%2FRXNkzweNOIBMA%3D%3D%0A&m=w >>L0PXJcQg%2Bvw13a7za8xzkNTUBz%2Fpc8H9qCXT9PYrng%3D%0A&s=af428652d17fe7f2045 >>077dcf7e52fc8d0870c79dd219241a7fe2d7368f36be2 > >_______________________________________________ >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://mcn.edu/pipermail/mcn-l/ > > >
