4 ms·
FWIW most of these images are plain 2D reproductions of already-public-domain images on which the museum can’t claim any copyright.
by hk__2 7y ago
FWIW most of these images are plain 2D reproductions of already-public-domain images on which the museum can’t claim any copyright.
- Symbiote 7y agoUnder British law they can claim copyright of the photograph.
- yarrel 7y agoOr so they claim. The legal arguments that museums rely on to assert this are ... really bad. I mean really bad. But taking on the combined might of the UK museum sector is not a good idea. So we have to pretend that a couple of irrelevant old judgements mean that "sweat of the brow copyright" isn't the nonsense it so plainly is.
- chrisseaton 7y agoIt'd be pretty tricky to photograph your own images that good! I'm not an expert but I believe that makes them 'artistic' in the eyes of the law, and so not copyrightable through precedent.
- jerven 7y agoEffort is not commonly enough to validly claim copyright. A creative spark is required. So it depends on how rule oriented the photographers worked. E.g. Straight scan of painting hard to defend. Photo of 3d sculpture with interesting background is easier. Usual exceptions are jurisdictions like the Netherlands and Belgium. Also not a lawyer.
- chrisseaton 7y ago> A creative spark is required. Right, and I'm pretty sure setting up a photography and lighting rig on a painting is enough in the UK to be a creative spark, under case law.
- hk__2 7y agoI don’t know for the UK, but under the US and French law this has nothing to do with creativity, and 2D reproduction don’t grant you any new right.
- chrisseaton 7y ago> I don’t know for the UK, but under the US and French law... Yes the idea that 2D reproductions don't grant new rights is indeed a Europeism, presumably from the French tradition and adopted into the US. The UK was sort of starting to adopt it as well before we left the EU. But the traditional view in the UK is that a photograph is a new copyrightable work. https://www.blakemorgan.co.uk/photographing-the-public-domain-eu-to-remove-copyright-protection-from-public-domain-art-images/ https://www.blakemorgan.co.uk/photographing-the-public-domai...
- kragen 7y agoUS copyright law derives from UK jurisprudence, not French, but US precedent has added a much greater requirement for originality, arguably starting with Feist.