Re: Greetings, I also am not a lawyer

On Wed, 22 Oct 1997 Robert Panzer <bigbusie[_at_]aol.com> wrote:
>
> I am not eactly sure what you mean by "If the magazine is in the museum,
> you still have to get a permission from the owner of the museum, even
> though the magazine is in the public domain". Since the magazine is in
> the PD, I presume you are saying the museum has the right to control
> reproduction of the magazine by controlling access to it: the magazine
> (at least this copy), after all, is the museum's property. Hence the
> museum controls reproduction rights (aka copyright) by controlling
> access. Such control could be total and complete if the museum is the
> sole owner of a reproducible copy of the magazine, or for that matter,
> any object, including a unique work, such as a work of fine art.

You are correct. Two years ago, I visited Minnesota History Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. It is a three-story museum. On the third floor is a research center. Before I could enter the research center, I had to pay a small fee and registered on a sheet. I did not memorize the terms and conditions that were on the sheet but I vaguely remember that if I copy any portion of anything in the research center, I must give the credit to Minnesota History Center and I can not sell any copies without the permission. Again, my memory is vague. So, regardless of the fact that some books are in the public domain, I am still bound by the terms and conditions.

I just assume that this is also true for many museums that have old literary works.

> An interesting question then arises. Is this the intent of the
> copyright law? Should owners or access controllers be given the benefits
> (potentially perpetual) associated with copyright? In particular, should
> museums, which are usually non-profit, often publicly supported
> institutions, be able to assert this control.

No to all three questions. But, then, I am not a lawyer.

> there are any legal cases that have adressed the issue of access and
> copyright? All comments on this subject are eagerly sought.

I am also interested in knowing these cases, both at federal and state levels.

Joseph Pietro Riolo
<riolo[_at_]voicenet.com> Received on Fri Oct 24 1997 - 00:07:56 GMT