Re: Fair Use Question?

> >Museums seem to be holding onto "their" copyright because they make
> >money through their rights and reproductions offices, but the
> >objects belong in the cultural domain once the creator's original
> >copyright has lapsed. In response to museums trying so ardently to
> >"protect" their images, I heard one librarian say to another at the
> >VRA Reception "who would have ever thought that museums would be our
> >enemy"? It was shocking thing to say, and I was shocked to find
> >myself agreeing with it.
> >
> >Maryly Snow
>
>
> Rather than "museums making money through their rights and
> reproductions", could I offer the perspective of the poor old photo
> curator who sees his early 20th century gelatin-silver photographs of
> *important* events like the 1906 SF earthquake quickly fading away.
>
> Physical facilities are expensive, electricity to provide proper
> environmental conditions to ensure maximum life is expensive, and I
> have a board suggesting that our private non-profit research library
> should be run like a business and sustain its own balance sheet.
>
> If my organization has *stewardship* of a one-of-a-kind and valuable
> visual document, and needs to continue preserving it, where is the
> fairness between open access and survivability-enabling use
> compensation. I would suggest that these same issues are now arising
> with the issues of electronic access via the Internet. What is
> access, and what is appropriate compensation for continuing to
> maintain these special collections in good health.
>
> Many institutions now face self-support mechanisms or extinction!
> Eat or be eaten, lack of free lunch---how do we survive without
> charging some amount for fair use?
>
> Robert MacKimmie
> Curatorial Director of Photography
> California Historical Society, San Francisco
> <rm[_at_]califhistsoc.org>

It all depends on who you end up charging Why try to make money off of beleaguered public education? They're in just as bad shape. The application of for profit business practices to non-profit insititutions is fashionable, but not necessary appropriate or just. We're all in bad shape financially. We're all trying to preserve our cultural matri- and patri- mony. We all have a role to play in educating a citizenry for participation in the diverse democracy. I don't think capitalism is the proper model for museums or universities.

Maryly Snow
UC Berkeley
slides[_at_]ced.berkeley.edu Received on Tue Mar 15 1994 - 22:29:17 GMT