I'd never heard the term "slavish" in relation to copyright. This wikipedia article does a pretty good job of describing the court case, that I think(?) is the origin of this usage.
Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgeman_Art_Library_v._Corel_Corp. Looks like there are some open questions about how this decision applies outside the US. bk ---------------------------------------------------- bryan kennedy director, exhibit media science museum of minnesota bkennedy at smm.org 651.221.2522 ---------------------------------------------------- On Wed, Mar 12, 2014 at 3:58 PM, Virginia Rutledge < virginiarutledge at yahoo.com> wrote: > 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/ > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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/ >
