INTRODUCTION
1. What is "Intellectual Property"?
A question that leaves most of us baffled on how to begin answering, let alone makes some of us break out in a cold sweat at the thought of defining the boundaries of international portfolio inc such a broad topic. If we break this down, the property part is self-explanatory- property being simply something that belongs exclusively to one person or a group of people. But what constitutes "intellectual" property?
Just like there are rights of ownership over the physical object, there are also rights attached to the artistic intent of a work of art. And just like property rights, intellectual property rights can be transferred, bought, and sold just like the actual work of art itself. The rights that relate to the expression and depiction of the work constitute the “intellectual” property. The law says that any original work created in a fixed, tangible medium (two and three-dimensional works of art, literary works, musical or choreographed performances, motion pictures, architectural works, etc) is eligible for copyright protection of its intellectual properties¹. It can be difficult casino to ascertain if a work is copyright protected if it was made during the murky period of 1923 and 1978, when works needed to be first registered and later renewed with the US Copyright office in order to sustain copyright protection. More recently, since the 1976 Act and the VARA Act, most contemporary works of art are automatically copyright protected, with ownership of the rights resting with the creator of the work. The various types of copyright protection available in all their complexity are discussed throughout this handbook in other chapters. For the purposes of this introduction, we want to clearly illustrate that while one may own the physical property of a work of art, physical ownership does not give the owner the ability to use that work in any way they see fit. For example, let us say John Smith owns a painting by a contemporary artist. The painting is clearly his property since he bought it directly from the artist. However, the owner of the piece did not ask the artist to include copyright of the work along with the sale, so the artist still retains control over the intellectual property. In a nutshell, this means that the work can not be duplicated, modified, or destroyed without permission from the intellectual property holder, in this case, the artist. In fact, the artist can even have the right to remove their name from the work should it be altered in a way that distorts their original intent.
¹ Pub.L. No. 94-553, 90 Stat. 2541, USC, Title 17, Sec 102, p. 8
Check this out : Guide to Intellectual Property Rights and Other Legal Issues by Naomi Korn, with permission, Naomi Korn: [1]
2. Discussion of interrelated nature of publication and copyright
3. How our responsibilities fit with the missions of our individual institutions and with the museum industry as a whole
Beyond the obvious responsibilities museums have around the care of the artwork entrusted to them, they also have legal obligations to adhere to copyright law. It isn’t widely understood by the pubic that many museums don’t own the copyright to the artwork in their collections. They have the right to display the artwork in their galleries, but they don’t necessarily have the right to reproduce that artwork without permission.
On the other hand, many museum missions contain directives to provide educational outreach through access to their collections. Access can take the form of exhibition catalogues, printed brochures, slides, posters, wall labels, etc., or electronic media including websites. For each one of these uses the museum has the responsibility to clear the rights with the appropriate copyright holder.
One of the best ways for a museum to reach a wide and diverse audience, and thus satisfy its mission, is to post artwork images to its website. Clearing the rights for this sort of project can be prohibitively expensive in terms of staff time and licensing fees. This creates a conflict for the museum.
4. Overview of present and possible future issues'
For thought: Collaborating in the Public's Domain, by Richard McCoy for CeROArt
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