Will,
According to "A Museum Guide to Copyright and Trademark" (AAM: 1999),
for copyright purposes, a publication means (and here the Guide is
quoting the coypyright act) "the distribution of copies... of a
work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by
rental, lease or lending. The offering to distribute copies... to a
group of persons for purposes of further distribution, public
performance, or public display constitutes publication. A public
performance or public display of a work does not of itself constitute
publication".
If you take your questions, one by one, and look at them in the
context of the above definition, some will be answered, but not all.
The Guide mentioned above gives examples of when a public display
may or may not constitute "publication", so you might want to look at
it further for some of the gray areas.
BTW - RARIN is a Web site: I think the list you are referring to is
Musip (Museum IP). It is an open list -- anyone can post to it at
mu...@yahoogroups.com.
I wish I could give you straight "yes"/"no" answers, but one thing I
am learning about copyright is that a straight answer is about as
rare as a public domain work these days ; -)
Diane
No doubt this has been hashed out before but I've not found anything
explicit on this subject. I am wondering if any consensus has been
reached in the museum field.
The copyright law says that works published before 1923 are in the
public domain. For the purposes of museum objects, what constitutes
publication? Does public exhibition of a unique work satisfy the
publication requirement? What about publication of an image of a
unique work in a catalogue or brochure or periodical prior to 1923?
Do print editions constitute publication? Are mass-produced objects
(furniture, utensils, clocks, etc.) created for retail sales
considered published? What if these items were designed by someone
not working for hire, whose death date is 1935 or later? There are
undoubtedly many other related questions, but perhaps that is enough
for now.
If any of you are subscribed to the RARIN list (there is one,
right?) would you consider posting my query there with a request to
send responses directly to me? I would be happy to post a synopsis
to MCN-L later.
Will Real
Carnegie Museum of Art
--
Diane M. Zorich
113 Gallup Road
Princeton, NJ 08542 USA
Voice: 609-252-1606
Fax: 609-252-1607
Email: dzor...@mindspring.com
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