[Nhcoll-l] photo vouchering and tissues questions

Wed May 2 17:20:27 EDT 2018

As far as I can see, the KU Deed of Gift applies to objects, not
intellectual property (like photographs). But, as they say, I am
(definitely!) not a lawyer, so...

And yes, we'd definitely track the photographer's name (similarly to the
collector's name) as a piece of information independent from who holds what
rights to the image.

Side issue... the Creative department here, a few years ago, got so
tangled/fed up with/exasperated regarding which rights we had to which
images (not collection/specimen images, but things like a picture of the
Museum building) they they have pretty much given up accepting any images
other than those for which we have full copyright. In effect, that means no
photos from anyone other than a photographer paid by the Museum.

-Dean
-- 
Dean Pentcheff
pentcheff at gmail.com
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__research.nhm.org_disco&d=DwIFaQ&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=fggnYC2JlkYvcrP4dsVHchES6PeaLdiqOzEmK2StjKg&s=L-9PfwqN26k00USAGrbT_9PyuLrqqyzxrF6a0kPoN7g&e=

On Wed, May 2, 2018 at 12:25 PM Gregory Schneider <ges at umich.edu> wrote:

> I thought that was what Andy's (KU's) Deed of Gift accomplishes. We do the
> same at UMMZ, Herpetology.  I would not accession / catalogue photo
> vouchers unless the photographer signs over their rights to the Regents of
> the University of Michigan.  (But our database still lists them as the
> photographer.)
>
> Greg Schneider
> Division of Reptiles and Amphibians
> Museum of Zoology
> Research Museums Center
> 3600 Varsity Drive
> University of Michigan
> Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108
>
> 734 647 1927
>
> ges at umich.edu
>
>
>
> [image: Description: Description: logocolor]
>
> www.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/rep_amph/index.html
>
> On Wed, May 2, 2018 at 3:16 PM, Dean Pentcheff <pentcheff at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> An issue with photo vouchers (as distinct from physical specimens) would
>> be the copyright status of the image — unlike a specimen or tissue, it is
>> legally considered to be a creative product. If the image was taken by
>> someone as part of their paid job, the copyright most likely belongs to
>> their employer. If it was taken by someone acting privately, outside of
>> their job, then the individual most likely has copyright over the image.
>> (This applies to U.S. copyright law; I don't know the details outside of
>> the U.S.)
>>
>> If an image is going to be deposited with the museum, I'd strongly
>> recommend getting a formal copyright transfer to the museum. It could be a
>> complete transfer (analogous to donating a specimen), where the museum now
>> has full copyright control, or an arrangement that the museum gets the
>> right to perpetual non-exclusive use of the image for any purpose. Your
>> museum counsel should be able to draft a release form (and I'd definitely
>> recommend having a lawyer do this — intellectual property law is not
>> straightforward).
>>
>> -Dean
>> --
>> Dean Pentcheff
>> pentcheff at gmail.com
>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__research.nhm.org_disco&d=DwIFaQ&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=fggnYC2JlkYvcrP4dsVHchES6PeaLdiqOzEmK2StjKg&s=L-9PfwqN26k00USAGrbT_9PyuLrqqyzxrF6a0kPoN7g&e=
>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__research.nhm.org_disco&d=DwMFaQ&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=QW_UEFQEM3qu9E6Q3d1RoQHujyKeBnurqAAN7E4Qfrk&s=sivo6lJsZK1KzrHmq35Nm86-u25n7esH6Zu_fi8eOe8&e=>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, May 1, 2018 at 6:20 AM Kirsten Nicholson <norops at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Our museum is revising its policies and I'm looking for information on
>>> two points.
>>>
>>> *First: can anybody share with me their policies on accepting photos as
>>> vouchers for specimens if you do this?* I have trolled the web for
>>> policies on this, but haven't been able to pull any up. I know that in the
>>> realm of herpetology we sometimes publish short notes on geographic range
>>> extensions or natural history observations that include photos confirming
>>> the species ID (and associated data) in instances where you can't or are
>>> unable to capture and or make that specimen a museum voucher. But what are
>>> your policies on this?
>>>
>>> *Second: does anybody make requirements regarding credit attribution to
>>> the collector when specimens or tissues are used in publication? *I've
>>> trolled through tissue policies from several museums, and they are all
>>> pretty similar, but did not see this in them and was curious. I know many
>>> years ago when museums began establishing genetic tissue collections there
>>> were some issues that came up regarding the use of large numbers of tissues
>>> collected by someone else and then publishing that data without crediting
>>> the collector, who in one case happened to still be very much alive. The
>>> counter-argument at the time was likening the tissues to voucher specimens,
>>> no one puts Cope or Agassizi as co-authors of their papers even if they
>>> used nothing but and only specimens collected by them. I assume most
>>> museums' policies state that tissues, like specimens, are donated to the
>>> museum and become museum property and all rights to them (unless otherwise
>>> negotiated) are relinquished by the collector. Does anybody do anything
>>> differently?
>>>
>>> Thanks for any thoughts you can share,
>>>
>>> Kirsten
>>>
>>> --
>>> Kirsten E. Nicholson, Ph.D
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *Prof. of  Biology          and             Curator of Natural
>>> HistoryDept. of Biology                             Museum of Cultural and
>>> Natural History2104 Biosciences                           103 Rowe
>>> HallCentral Michigan Univ.                 Central Michigan University Mt.
>>> Pleasant, MI 48859                 Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859989-774-3758
>>>                          989-774-3829*
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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