Pre-1976 ownership (Was: Art Work Photos on the Library Homepage)

From: Christine L. Sundt <csundt[_at_]OREGON.UOREGON.EDU>
Date: Fri, 05 Jun 1998 16:03:16 -0700

Terry Carroll <carroll[_at_]tjc.com> wrote:
>
> Prior to the 1976 Act, there were several judicial holdings that transfer
> of the only existing copy of the work did transfer the copyright as well,
> but those cases have clearly been superseded by the 1976 Act. See, in
> particular, 17 U.S.C. 202.

So my question is this: Are the works that a museum received or purchased (transfer of ownership) prior to 1976 covered under the old "understanding" of the law, namely that copyright transferred with them or was this understanding overturned with the 1976 ruling?

Add to this scenario #2. The artist of one of the pre-1976 acquired works in the museum's permanent collection is a luminary like [insert name of choice] who was a budding young painter in the 70s. Today his work is covered under the life + 50 rubric. Does the museum own the copyright to those pre-1976 acquired works or does the artist?

Christine Sundt

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Christine L. Sundt
Visual Resources Curator
Architecture & Allied Arts Library
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403 - USA
541-346-2209 / FAX: 541-346-2205
http://oregon.uoregon.edu/~csundt/index.htm Received on Fri Jun 05 1998 - 23:04:12 GMT