[MCN-L] FW: rights question
An article (below) that is tangential but pertinant to the question. Museums are all about accuracy of attribution, especially in a collecton database. Amalyah Keshet --- Controlling copies isn't necessarily part of an artist's livelihood, but getting them accurately attributed is Danny O'Brien's new essay Copyright, Fraud and Window Taxes (No, not that Windows) makes a really good point about the way that people view copying on the Internet: copying is a ho-hum, every day thing (after all, in order for you to read these words, they had to be copied dozens, if not hundreds, of times) but passing off (plagiarism, fraud) is more frowned-upon than ever In a digital world, many people don't see the act of copying as a particularly momentous or profitable event. Copying isn't what we do as an act of purchasing; copying is a thing we do to our valuable artifacts. People are scandalised when its suggested that you should pay for a copy copied to backup drives, or iPods; they're amazed when vested interests demand that cached copies or transitory files should count as extra purchases. Copying is no longer a good proxy for incoming revenue; which means it is no longer a good place to extract remuneration... Nowadays, copying isn't always the core part of remunerative creative business. But accurate accreditation very much is... I'm reminded of the fact that the original Creative Commons license allowed creators to choose whether they wanted their works attributed to them or not, but after a year or two, it was discovered that nearly every CC user turned the attribution switch on while generating the license -- everyone wanted correct attribution, even when they were giving away free copies. http://www.boingboing.net/2008/08/08/controlling-copies-i.html#previouspost ?: ??mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu] ??? Weinstein, William [WWeinstein at philamuseum.org] ??: ? ??? 14 ?? 2009 21:29 : Museum Computer Network Listserv ??: [MCN-L] rights question 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/ ___ 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/
[MCN-L] Personalized exhibits
Hello We are at the planning phase of an exhibition about testing and measurement. We are contemplating the relationships between activities on the web and the exhibition. It can go two ways (or both): 1. Identify yourself and interact with the exhibits. When you return home, identify yourself at a website and continue the interaction based on what you gained at the exhibition. 2. Begin an identified interaction on the web. When you come to the exhibition, identify yourself and continue the interaction based on what you gained on the web. What we would like to know is whether this kind of relationships of web-exhibition had been done and what insights were gained. Any information will be most appreciated. --- Hanan Cohen Webmaster Bloomfield Science Museum Jerusalem www.mada.org.il - Facebook - Twitter - YouTube
[MCN-L] EAD for artifacts: a new site
Hi all, Today, the Kittredge Numismatic Foundationhttp://www.kittredgecollection.orgwebsite goes live to the public: John Kittredge was well known as a generous and supportive member of the numismatic community, both in Worcester, Massachusetts and in New England. Much of his collection concentrates on Crowns and Talers from the 15th century onward. He also has a collection of U.S. coins, New England Numismatic Association (NENA) medals, tokens and other items. All told he had over 7,200 coins and other items that are now in the collection. Upon his death, John?s collection went to the Kittredge Numismatic Foundation. The mission of the Foundation is to preserve John?s collection, to promote numismatics in the New England region, and to generally provide an educational and research source for the greatest community possible. The site is based on the best practices established for describing coins in EAD originally developed at the University of Virginia Library as part of the University of Virginia Art Museum Numismatic Collectionhttp://coins.lib.virginia.eduand published in the soon-to-be-printed proceedings for the Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology conference held in Williamsburg, Virginia March 2009. The coding framework (cocoon/solr), originally developed for the UVA collection, has since been released publicly to sourceforge under the project name: Numisharehttp://sourceforge.net/projects/numishare/. While Numishare is not quite ready for its first official release, the code in the subversion trunk is more or less working and available to play around with (although I should note that the wiki for documentation is still being written!). The Kittredge Collection's backend allows for the creation and editing of data with XForms in the tomcat application, Orbeon. While the XForms editor has not yet been integrated into the trunk, it is available for testing in the kittredge branch of the subversion repository. In the coming weeks, I will finalize the XForms application for editing coin data and bring it into the trunk for in preparation for the official release of the Numishare application. The Kittredge Collection website is a work in progress. It will continue to grow in the coming months, with more images of coins and more categorical metadata being added to the collection. Nevertheless, the site is a demonstration of EAD's competency in describing artifacts in a robust and useful way. Future of the project: * Link images to all records * Provide high resolution images and integrate adore-djatoka JPEG-2000 viewer * Clean up data and normalize places and names * Integrate non-coin artifacts into the site. A VRA Core viewing stylesheet already exists. Since there is no accepted standard for using EAD to describe art objects, I have opted for VRA Core to describe them. -Ethan Gruber
[MCN-L] Use policies in museums
This doesn't relate to anything specific, but as a long-time observer without deep legal knowledge or economic understanding of the licensing / copyright disputes among content creators, museums, publishers etc. I'd be interested in hearing reactions to the following situation. (Blame this post on Amalyah - I sent it to her first and she suggested I post it to the list and so, with the somewhat entertaining potential of throwing more fuel on the Ken Hamma - museum copyright - paranoia fire, I will). A friend of mine who writes a photography blog was recently instructed to take down some videos from the MFA Houston that he had posted -- with credit and, I believe, links back to the museum site. I couldn't help thinking that this seems to work against the best interests of the institution. While it's true, as he admits, that he technically infringed the copyright of the museum and probably should at least have sought permission to post them on his (no doubt) money-losing blog, I'm having trouble understanding how this act did anything other than drive traffic and increase interest in the museum and the videos themselves. Would this be a situation where a CC license would have been more appropriate (and cheaper for the institution?) What do you think? Here's the post in which he presents the current situation: http://2point8.whileseated.org/2009/09/11/takedown/ Chuck Patch
[MCN-L] Use policies in museums
Are we sure that MFA Houston is the bad cop? Perhaps the Robert Frank estate (or their representatives) complained to MFA Houston who then had to send a CD to your friend. Perian Sully Collections Information Manager Web Programs Strategist The Magnes Berkeley, CA -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of Chuck Patch Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 8:09 AM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: [MCN-L] Use policies in museums This doesn't relate to anything specific, but as a long-time observer without deep legal knowledge or economic understanding of the licensing / copyright disputes among content creators, museums, publishers etc. I'd be interested in hearing reactions to the following situation. (Blame this post on Amalyah - I sent it to her first and she suggested I post it to the list and so, with the somewhat entertaining potential of throwing more fuel on the Ken Hamma - museum copyright - paranoia fire, I will). A friend of mine who writes a photography blog was recently instructed to take down some videos from the MFA Houston that he had posted -- with credit and, I believe, links back to the museum site. I couldn't help thinking that this seems to work against the best interests of the institution. While it's true, as he admits, that he technically infringed the copyright of the museum and probably should at least have sought permission to post them on his (no doubt) money-losing blog, I'm having trouble understanding how this act did anything other than drive traffic and increase interest in the museum and the videos themselves. Would this be a situation where a CC license would have been more appropriate (and cheaper for the institution?) What do you think? Here's the post in which he presents the current situation: http://2point8.whileseated.org/2009/09/11/takedown/ Chuck Patch ___ 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/ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.13.102/2377 - Release Date: 09/16/09 17:49:00
[MCN-L] Djatoka client comments?
Hi all, Any djatoka users out there? We're on the brink of deciding between two candidates as open-source AJAX client implementations for working with navigable images served with resolution on demand by djatoka server and a JPEG 2000 back-end. The two candidates are Djatoka OpenURL, based on OpenLayers, and Djatoka Viewer, based on IIPMooViewer. We have test pages up and running with both, and based on lots of search-engine-findable resources, both seem like good candidates based on functional needs and general factors; so I thought I'd ask here if anyone has actually been using either or both. Any hands-on tales of use cases or applications in museum contexts that might suggest one of these tools would be preferable to the other? thanks, Rob -- Rob Lancefield (rlancefield [at] wesleyan [dot] edu) Manager of Museum Information Services / Registrar of Collections Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University 301 High Street, Middletown CT 06459-0487 USA 860.685.2965 // President, Museum Computer Network (MCN), http://www.mcn.edu The membership organization for museum information professionals
[MCN-L] Djatoka client comments?
Hi Rob, I have used both. I prefer the viewer based on IIPMooViewer purely for aesthetic reasons. I like the thumbnail in the corner with the small box that shows one's zoomed position on the current layer and one's ability to navigate with that box. There's also the button to export whatever is in the viewer to a downloadable jpg, so that's potentially useful to patrons. Ethan Gruber University of Virginia Library On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 12:17 PM, Rob Lancefield on lists lists at lancefield.net wrote: Hi all, Any djatoka users out there? We're on the brink of deciding between two candidates as open-source AJAX client implementations for working with navigable images served with resolution on demand by djatoka server and a JPEG 2000 back-end. The two candidates are Djatoka OpenURL, based on OpenLayers, and Djatoka Viewer, based on IIPMooViewer. We have test pages up and running with both, and based on lots of search-engine-findable resources, both seem like good candidates based on functional needs and general factors; so I thought I'd ask here if anyone has actually been using either or both. Any hands-on tales of use cases or applications in museum contexts that might suggest one of these tools would be preferable to the other? thanks, Rob -- Rob Lancefield (rlancefield [at] wesleyan [dot] edu) Manager of Museum Information Services / Registrar of Collections Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University 301 High Street, Middletown CT 06459-0487 USA 860.685.2965 // President, Museum Computer Network (MCN), http://www.mcn.edu The membership organization for museum information professionals ___ 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/
[MCN-L] Artifax Event Management Software
Is anyone using Artifax events management software? We are looking into it and would love to hear back if anyone has had first-hand experience, good or bad, on or off the list... Thanks, Janice Craddock Information Technology Manager Amon Carter Museum 3501 Camp Bowie Blvd., Ft. Worth, TX 76107 t. 817.989.5152 f.817.665.4333 http://www.cartermuseum.org http://www.cartermuseum.org/
[MCN-L] Djatoka client comments?
Thanks, Ethan. That's pretty much where I've been headed so far, too, in what seems otherwise to be close to a toss-up; the current-view outline box on small reference image is a big plus. Any other comments out there? Rob On 9/17/2009 12:21 PM, Ethan Gruber wrote: Hi Rob, I have used both. I prefer the viewer based on IIPMooViewer purely for aesthetic reasons. I like the thumbnail in the corner with the small box that shows one's zoomed position on the current layer and one's ability to navigate with that box. There's also the button to export whatever is in the viewer to a downloadable jpg, so that's potentially useful to patrons. Ethan Gruber University of Virginia Library On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 12:17 PM, Rob Lancefield on lists lists at lancefield.net wrote: Hi all, Any djatoka users out there? We're on the brink of deciding between two candidates as open-source AJAX client implementations for working with navigable images served with resolution on demand by djatoka server and a JPEG 2000 back-end. The two candidates are Djatoka OpenURL, based on OpenLayers, and Djatoka Viewer, based on IIPMooViewer. We have test pages up and running with both, and based on lots of search-engine-findable resources, both seem like good candidates based on functional needs and general factors; so I thought I'd ask here if anyone has actually been using either or both. Any hands-on tales of use cases or applications in museum contexts that might suggest one of these tools would be preferable to the other? thanks, Rob -- Rob Lancefield (rlancefield [at] wesleyan [dot] edu) Manager of Museum Information Services / Registrar of Collections Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University 301 High Street, Middletown CT 06459-0487 USA 860.685.2965 // President, Museum Computer Network (MCN), http://www.mcn.edu The membership organization for museum information professionals ___ 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/ ___ 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/
[MCN-L] Use policies in museums
Hi, I'll jump in here since I'm from the MFAH and my office acts as the clearance office for copyrights for museum objects. The MFAH distributes the films of Robert Frank, but we do not represent him in regards to copyright. Mr. Frank is very protective of his copyright and we were asked by his representatives to make sure that unauthorized web use of the films was stopped. We sent CD letters to those people who were posting the films at the request of Mr. Frank. It seems that someone had posted Mr. Frank's films on YouTube without our knowledge or permission, thereby denying Mr. Frank revenue that is his due from the performance of his films. Even though many of us consider these films works of art, they are still governed by the same laws that relate to mass-produced motion pictures and we did what any other film distributer is compelled to do in order to maintain the trust of their client. We asked for the infringed material to be removed. In order to avoid any kind of confusion, we do not post any part of Mr. Frank's films on our website. At the present time, we only have two still photos on our site that describes our distribution service for the films. As a rights administrator, I have to say that some of the postings in this discussion have been a little troubling to me. I know we want to give the public as much information as we are able to about our collections - it's the reason we became museum professionals. I think that trying to get around copyright, however, is the last thing we should do. We're protectors of the objects and artifacts in our collection. Doesn't that also mean that we should be considerate of the rights of those artists from whom we hold their works in trust for future visitors? If an artist doesn't want his/her work on the Internet, he/she has the right to that by the laws of our countries. I think that we should abide by their wishes. Chuck, if your friend is still interested in posting part of one of the films, I would suggest that he contact Mr. Frank's gallery, Pace/MacGill (http://www.pacemacgill.com/contact_staff.html) and request permission. He might find that the gallery is willing to work with him to provide authorized footage for his blog. Marty Marcia (Marty) Stein Photographic Imaging Services Manager The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston PO Box 6826 Houston, Texas 77265-6826 Telephone: (713) 639-7525 Fax: (713) 639-7557 Email: mstein at mfah.org -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of Perian Sully Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 11:00 AM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Use policies in museums Are we sure that MFA Houston is the bad cop? Perhaps the Robert Frank estate (or their representatives) complained to MFA Houston who then had to send a CD to your friend. Perian Sully Collections Information Manager Web Programs Strategist The Magnes Berkeley, CA -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of Chuck Patch Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 8:09 AM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: [MCN-L] Use policies in museums This doesn't relate to anything specific, but as a long-time observer without deep legal knowledge or economic understanding of the licensing / copyright disputes among content creators, museums, publishers etc. I'd be interested in hearing reactions to the following situation. (Blame this post on Amalyah - I sent it to her first and she suggested I post it to the list and so, with the somewhat entertaining potential of throwing more fuel on the Ken Hamma - museum copyright - paranoia fire, I will). A friend of mine who writes a photography blog was recently instructed to take down some videos from the MFA Houston that he had posted -- with credit and, I believe, links back to the museum site. I couldn't help thinking that this seems to work against the best interests of the institution. While it's true, as he admits, that he technically infringed the copyright of the museum and probably should at least have sought permission to post them on his (no doubt) money-losing blog, I'm having trouble understanding how this act did anything other than drive traffic and increase interest in the museum and the videos themselves. Would this be a situation where a CC license would have been more appropriate (and cheaper for the institution?) What do you think? Here's the post in which he presents the current situation: http://2point8.whileseated.org/2009/09/11/takedown/ Chuck Patch ___ 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:
[MCN-L] Use policies in museums
A few thoughts/data points on this, one of my favorite vexing topics (!) - I've been studying these issues for the better part of a year now and I'm a long way from figuring them out. Copyright, fair use, and non-commercial use were complex before the Internet, now they're insanely complex full of contradictions. I agree with James Boyle's (http://www.law.duke.edu/fac/boyle/) assertion that we need the equivalent of the environmental movement to help creators, consumers, and lawmakers understand the copyright ecosystem. (There was a time when people had to be taught that it was bad to pour paint thinner down a storm drain.) - I suspect that many artists, artists estates, and 3rd party copyright holders don't really understand the nuances of copyright law in the digital age. I suspect many assume that restrictive absolute control is the best business practice, or perhaps the only business practice. Is the offending blog post noncommercial fair use? How many angels fit on the head of a pin? The data from Creative Commons recent study, Defining Noncommercial (http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Defining_Noncommercial) - - lead by Virginia Rutledge, who is on this list - - indicates vast confusion about these issues. - as a museum visitor, I find myself resenting no photography policies. I've worked at museums where entire exhibitions - - 150 works of art or more - - were no photography zones because a single object had a copyright owner who wouldn't allow photography. Even setting aside the uncertainties of noncommercial use, there should be no prohibition against photography, within the boundaries of fair use, in our public museums. I'll buy a double lifetime family membership at the museum that embraces a photography everywhere, every day policy and says see-ya-later to lenders who insist that they be photo-free. Michael Edson Director, Web and New Media Strategy Smithsonian Institution, Office of the CIO edsonm at si.edu | twitter: @mpedson | m: 202-445-9746 | o: 202-633-8447 Visit our public Web and New Media Strategy wiki -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of Stein, Marty Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 12:53 PM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Use policies in museums Hi, I'll jump in here since I'm from the MFAH and my office acts as the clearance office for copyrights for museum objects. The MFAH distributes the films of Robert Frank, but we do not represent him in regards to copyright. Mr. Frank is very protective of his copyright and we were asked by his representatives to make sure that unauthorized web use of the films was stopped. We sent CD letters to those people who were posting the films at the request of Mr. Frank. It seems that someone had posted Mr. Frank's films on YouTube without our knowledge or permission, thereby denying Mr. Frank revenue that is his due from the performance of his films. Even though many of us consider these films works of art, they are still governed by the same laws that relate to mass-produced motion pictures and we did what any other film distributer is compelled to do in order to maintain the trust of their client. We asked for the infringed material to be removed. In order to avoid any kind of confusion, we do not post any part of Mr. Frank's films on our website. At the present time, we only have two still photos on our site that describes our distribution service for the films. As a rights administrator, I have to say that some of the postings in this discussion have been a little troubling to me. I know we want to give the public as much information as we are able to about our collections - it's the reason we became museum professionals. I think that trying to get around copyright, however, is the last thing we should do. We're protectors of the objects and artifacts in our collection. Doesn't that also mean that we should be considerate of the rights of those artists from whom we hold their works in trust for future visitors? If an artist doesn't want his/her work on the Internet, he/she has the right to that by the laws of our countries. I think that we should abide by their wishes. Chuck, if your friend is still interested in posting part of one of the films, I would suggest that he contact Mr. Frank's gallery, Pace/MacGill (http://www.pacemacgill.com/contact_staff.html) and request permission. He might find that the gallery is willing to work with him to provide authorized footage for his blog. Marty Marcia (Marty) Stein Photographic Imaging Services Manager The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston PO Box 6826 Houston, Texas 77265-6826 Telephone: (713) 639-7525 Fax: (713) 639-7557 Email: mstein at mfah.org -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of Perian Sully Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 11:00 AM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject:
[MCN-L] mcn-l Digest, Vol 48, Issue 13
Deborah, et al., You can't imagine how great it felt to read your message re: image fair use best practices for museums. Our department here at MIA has been tasked with exploring the creation of just such a document. Even better to have it industry or professional assn. supported--so we can stand together . I am hoping to attend MCN this year and you can bet I'll be sitting in on that SIG if I do. Thanks for the day brightener. Heidi Message: 1 Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:10:00 -0400 From: Deborah Wythe deborahwy...@hotmail.com Subject: Re: [MCN-L] rights question To: mcn-l at mcn.edu Message-ID: BLU126-W22FB0F65EA251F818AC50DCFE20 at phx.gbl Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 The IP SIG meeting in Portland is going to consider the possibility of getting together and working on a fair use best practices for museum collections, along the lines of what the documentary film makers have done: http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/rock/backgrounddocs/bestpractices.pdf. Other industry groups have banded together as well: there's safety in numbers and consensus (if you can reach it) and it might be a way for us not to have to reinvent the wheel at each institution. Deb Wythe Brooklyn Museum deborahwythe at hotmail.com Heidi S. Raatz | Visual Resources Librarian Minneapolis Institute of Arts 2400 Third Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55404 (612) 870-3196 | (612) 870-3029 - permissions | hraatz at artsmia.org | permissions at artsmia.org| www.artsmia.org ( http://www.artsmia.org/ )
