[NHCOLL-L:877] Ownership, specimens, and copyright?

[Sally Shelton]

A researcher here has asked a question which I am passing along in hopes of tapping into some expertise. Over the last year or so, concerns have been expressed about policies at least one major (non-US) museum that essentially assert the museum's right of ownership to "all information derived from (their) specimens, that is, images made from them and the information taken from the specimen label data..." Some researchers have been asked to assign intellectual ownership of photographs, etc. of museum specimens to the museum before loans could be sent and research could be contractually allowed to proceed. (The question is NOT about patented material or about the ownership of the specimens per se.)

We're interested in finding out what the status of this sort of policy is at the museums where it has been proposed or implemented, the legal justification of it within the legal system of the country(ies) in question, and the effect this has had, if any, on loans and research. Thanks in advance for any and all information. 

Cheers, 




Sally Y. Shelton
Collections Officer
National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC   20560-0107
phone (202) 786-2601, FAX (202) 786-2328
email Shelton.Sally at nmnh.si.edu

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