Art Image Copyright and Licensing: Bibliography

This bibliography is the result of a literature review conducted during the summer of 2009 as part of a study of art museum copyright and licensing policies funded by The Samuel H. Kress Foundation. It collects literature on copyright and licensing issues pertaining to reproductions of works of art, with a particular focus on literature examining the relationship between museum rights and reproduction policies and copyright law. More generally, it includes literature on art and copyright law, examining issues such as notions of originality and the impact of copyright and licensing on the creation of new works of art. While the majority of works in this bibliography are concerned with United States copyright law, it also includes relevant English-language literature on international and comparative copyright laws

The public domain vs. the museum: the limits of copyright and reproductions of two-dimensional works of art

The problem of museums and public institutions handling reproductions of works in their collections is not only a legal question but also one of museum ethics. Public museums are committed to spreading knowledge and to making their collections accessible. When it comes to images of their holdings, however, they often follow a restrictive policy. Even for works in the public domain they claim copyright for their reproductive photographs. This paper offers an analysis of the different interests at stake, a short survey of important cases, and practical recommendations

Digital convergence and the information profession in cultural heritage organizations: Reconciling internal and external demands

Nearly twenty years ago, W. Boyd Rayward became one of the first academics to examine how electronic information and the functional integration of libraries, archives, and museums has affected, and will affect, the information profession. In doing so, he laid the groundwork for an entire research agenda on the topic of digital convergence, where the increased use of, and reliance on, digital resources in libraries, archives, and museums has increasingly blurred the traditional distinctions between these institutions. This paper explores how Rayward’s early work in this area influenced the development of this topic over time, focusing on how information professionals in cultural heritage organizations can and should reconcile their internal perceptions of identity with the external expectations of their users, particularly those who do not or cannot clearly distinguish between different institutions or the information resources they manage. In a world where the traditional assumptions we take for granted about information organization and access in libraries, archives, and museums are simply not shared by our users, the future of the information profession depends on the ability of cultural heritage information professionals to transcend the traditional boundaries between libraries, archives, and museums to meet information needs in the digital age.published or submitted for publicationOpe

Cultural Heritage Accessibility in the Digital Era and the Greek Legal Framework

New technologies provide great opportunities for cultural heritage to become more widely accessible and for cultural experience to be more meaningful. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the strengths and vulnerabilities of the cultural heritage sector and the need to accelerate its digital transformation to make the most of the opportunities it provides. The Commission Recommendation on the digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation (2011/711/EU) concluded that there is an urgent need to protect and preserve European cultural heritage, and, in particular, endangered cultural heritage is still present. However, the diversity of legal approaches to cultural heritage by the Member States discourages the creation of a common European data space for cultural heritage as the European Commission recently proclaimed. In Greece, there have been significant efforts in recent decades to digitise and digitally preserve cultural heritage goods. However, the attention was not drew upon the accessibility and reuse of the digitized cultural heritage content. According to the relevant regulatory framework the existing rules on the use of digital technologies for the reproduction, use and preservation of cultural heritage content is obviously outdated. According to the paragraphs 4 and 5 of article 46 of the Greek Code for the protection of antiquities and cultural heritage in general (Law 4858/2021), a previous permission granted by the Ministry of Culture is required for the production, reproduction and dissemination to the public of impressions, copies or depictions of monuments belonging to the Public Sector, or immovable monuments that are located within archaeological sites and historical places or are isolated, or movable monuments that are kept in museums or public collections, in any way and by any means whatsoever, including Information Communication Technologies. Such permission is granted to natural or legal persons for a fee paid to the Hellenic Organization of Cultural Resources Development (HOCRED) upon the decision of the Minister of Culture, while the decision also specifies the temporal validity of the permission, the terms on which the permission is granted and the fee that must be paid. The production, reproduction and use of the aforementioned goods for other purposes, such as artistic, educational or scientific purposes, is again allowed for a fee paid to HOCRED, however, the fee can be waived upon the decision of the Minister of Culture. This Paper will examine the existing Greek legal framework and will attempt to propose an appropriate framework that will ensure open access to the digitized cultural heritage assets, enhance the recovery and transformation of the cultural heritage sector and support cultural heritage institutions in becoming more empowered and more resilient in the future.</p

Museum Policies and Art Images: Conflicting Objectives and Copyright Overreaching

Introduction Claims of copyright protection that overreach the bounds of justifiable legal rights occur in many different contexts. Indeed, in almost any copyright litigation, issues regularly surround the legitimacy of the copyright and the rightful claim to it. Although multitudes of copyright questions arise daily, few of them ever go before a judge. Most people struggle with their conflicts and decisions in the simpler context of day-to-day transactions. One context where such decisions r..

Erfgoedinstellingen online: musea, bibliotheken en archieven in de praktijk

De bescherming van fundamentele rechten in een integrerend Europ

Revisiting Access to Cultural Heritage in the Public Domain: EU and International Developments

This is the final version. Available on open access from Springer via the DOI in this recordIn the past year, a number of legal developments have accelerated discussions around whether intellectual property rights can be claimed in materials generated during the reproduction of public domain works. This article analyses those developments, focusing on the 2018 German Federal Supreme Court decision Museumsfotos, Art. 14 of the 2019 Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market Directive, and relevant provisions of the 2019 Open Data and the Re-use of Public Sector Information Directive. It reveals that despite the growing consensus for protecting the public domain, there is a lack of practical guidance throughout the EU in legislation, jurisprudence, and literature on what reproduction media might attract new intellectual property rights, from scans to photography to 3D data. This leaves ample room for copyright to be claimed in reproduction materials produced by new technologies. Moreover, owners remain able to impose other restrictive measures around public domain works and data, like onsite photography bans, website terms and conditions, and exclusive arrangements with third parties. This article maps out these various legal gaps. It argues the pro-open culture spirit of the EU Directives should be embraced and provides guidance for Member States and heritage institutions around national implementation

Managing Intellectual Property for Museums

This two-part Guide first describes IP issues relevant to museums then reviews existing business models that could provide museums with appropriate opportunities to create sustainable funding, and deliver on their stated objectives. This Guide, first published in 2007, was updated in 2013 to reflect the tremendous developments in digital rights management, the role of social media as a business opportunity and traditional knowledge