Re: TAN: Photos of objects in museums. WAS heracles alienomachy?

At 07:21 PM 4/27/2004 -0400, you wrote:
> On what grounds? If YOU took the
> photos, and the object you photographed was not a work of art still under
> copyright (which classical works could not be), then the photos are your
> copyright and yours to do with as you please. Unless you signed a release
> before you took the pictures. (I am not a lawyer, so take this not as
> legal advice but as a suggestion that you might want clarification from
> the museums involved, or from an attorney).

Tsk, tsk. Don't tell me you are another one of those that would want
clarification from the museums. You know, to quote an off-list message I
got regarding this, "that might ruin things for
everyone"...

Okay, this is what MFA sent me last year:

Thank you for your message.  Here is the answer to your question:
Using MFA images on the web (on an unsecured site) is considered a form
of distribution.  You may use the images for personal use, display
in your home, study or research, etc., but reproduction or distribution
without MFA permission is not authorized.
If you would like to license MFA images for your website, please complete
a request form for permission and photo materials at
www.mfa.org/ip/drl.htm.
Please contact me if you have further questions.
Lizabeth Dion
[address]


This is what Capitoline Museums sent me:
le comunichiamo che non può essere autorizzato quanto da lei richiesto
poichè il web-site non può essere considerato "uso personale",
in quanto è accessibile non soltanto da parte del titolare.

The reason I asked, if anyone is wondering, is the Ancient History site
of About.com wanted to link my collection of the photos I took of
Augustus' sculptures (
http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~ow/Augustus/Portraiture/
), and I wanted to make sure I don't get myself and/or them into trouble.



> Of course, that leads me to ask how you got the MFA to let you take pictures in the first place ....

When was the last time you went to MFA? ;) Their policy:

http://mfa.org/ip/copyright.html
Photography and Video in the Galleries

Personal, non-commercial photography without flash or tripod is permitted in the permanent collections (not in special exhibitions). The use of flash or attachments, movie or video cameras is not permitted in the Museum without specific written permission from the Department of Rights and Licensing.




> On Apr 26, 2004, at 10:10 PM, Ling Ouyang wrote:
>
> >  How did you get permission to display the photos on-line? MFA in Boston, the Met, the Capitoline Museums, Louvre etc all said I could not put my photos I took on-line. Something about displaying on-line is a form of distribution...
> >
> >
> >  At 08:58 PM 4/26/2004 -0500, Janice Siegel wrote:
> >
> > In the process of culling materials for a lecture on Heracles, I found this image in my digital collection (I am also preparing to put on-line the array of galleries of images I have snapped of classical objects in museums from around the world). This object is either in Berlin's Altes or Pergamon museum (I haven't dug out my notes yet). It looks like Heracles Fighting a Winged Alien, your basic alienomachy. Can anyone help identify the subject of this red-figured vase painting for real?
> >   
> > http://lilt.ilstu.edu/drjclassics/mythology/chapter_22/altes%20024.jpg
> >   
> > Thanks. Janice
> >   
> > Janice Siegel
> >  Assistant Professor of Classics
> >  Illinois State University
> >  Dept of Foreign Languages
> >  Mail Code 4300
> >  Normal, Illinois 61790
> >  309-438-3583
> >   
> > http://lilt.ilstu.edu/drjclassics
> > http://lilt.ilstu.edu/drjclassics2
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Ling Ouyang
> > http://janusquirinus.org/

Ling Ouyang

http://janusquirinus.org/