Museum Policies and Art Images: Conflicting Objectives and Copyright Overreaching, a new paper by Kenneth D. Crews of Columbia University’s Copyright Advisory Office, published in the Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal, outlines the way museums often stretch the boundaries of their ownership of images of works in their collections through legally iffy claims of copyright. The paper examines the policies of major institutions and argues that curbing the usual “overreaching” in favor of less stingy image sharing policies can better serve both the institutions and the public’s interests.
