Hi, Sarah!
I would agree if we were only discussing the faithful reproduction of 2D pre-1923 images (which is what I believe was the National Portrait Gallery situation).
But the bulk of subject matter in this Dovie Horvitz collection appears to be 3D objects (clothes to curling irons). I would have thought a modern photo taken of a 3D object would be copyright of the photographer as they would be deemed to have made creative choices in how to take that photo if only in the selection of the viewpoint. I think the rule of thumb is whether it can cast a shadow and shadows are clearly visible in the images. E.g.
http://www.library.wisc.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2014/10/dh0600l. jpg
The DH collection does include some printed material which could be PD because the original material was pre-1923. But not all of the printed material in the collection is pre-1923 (not all of the objects either).
As I say, not living in the USA, my knowledge of USA copyright law may be imperfect, but can you point me at the exemptions that would apply in the case of photos of pre-1923 3D objects.
Kerry
_____
From: gendergap-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org [mailto:gendergap-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Sarah Stierch Sent: Thursday, 23 October 2014 2:18 AM To: Addressing gender equity and exploring ways to increase the participationof women within Wikimedia projects. Subject: Re: [Gendergap] Fwd: fembot: Announcing a new pictorial digital women's history collection
Hi -
I actually professionally consult with GLAMs (galleries, libraries, archives and museums) regarding the copyright of their images and the content within them and how copyright works. I have worked with everyone from the Smithsonian Institution to the Getty regarding opening their cultural heritage materials.
To be brutally honest: the university can claim copyright over the photographs of those images all they want but they will lose that case in a court of law if the photograph is of an object that was created before 1923.
The news about these images has been disseminated in the Open Culture (GLAM) community already, and they'll most likely end up being uploaded to websites like Wikimedia Commons, with proper attribution of where they came from (the university) but because the objects are public domain (1923 and before) there will be little to nothing the university can do to control that.
For example, a Wikipedia edit uploaded thousands of images from the National Portrait Gallery in London. All of artworks in the public domain. NPG tried to sue this editor (who is still an active editor). They failed - it was determined that the case had no chance. Basically, a museum or library can sit around and claim copyright over photographs of public domain images all they want, but, they can't win in a court of law.[1]
So regardless, they'll end up on Commons eventually and be disseminated. I can go on and on and on about this, it's my big passion - professionally and personally.
-Sarah
[1] http://www.dmlp.org/threats/national-portrait-gallery-v-coetzee#description
On Tue, Oct 21, 2014 at 9:11 PM, Kerry Raymond kerry.raymond@gmail.com wrote:
Maybe I am missing something (USA copyright law is not my area of expertise) but I see recent photographs of old things, which would make the photos the copyright of Dovie Horvitz (who is described as the person who took the photos). If the copyright has been assigned to the university, the university's website asserts copyright over things in electronic format (which seems to cover anything on a website!).
Sent from my iPad
On 22 Oct 2014, at 9:13 am, Sarah Stierch sarah.stierch@gmail.com wrote:
Fabulous collection of images, see below.
Most are public domain - meaning ripe for uploading to Commons :)
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Carol Stabile carol.stabile@gmail.com Date: Tue, Oct 21, 2014 at 4:11 PM Subject: fembot: Announcing a new pictorial digital women's history collection To: media & technology collaboration gender fembot@lists.uoregon.edu
Thought some of you would be interested in this.
best,
Carol A. Stabile, Professor School of Journalism and Communication/Department of Women's and Gender Studies University of Oregon Editor, The Fembot Collective
Dear WMST-Lers
I am pleased to announce the availability of a wonderful online collection
of photographs of women's everyday possessions in the 19th and early 20th centuries, plus numerous digitized texts (magazines, books, postcards, posters, and more) concerning women during that period. The objects and printed works themselves were amassed by Dovie Horvitz, and Illinois-based collector who hopes to find an institutional home for the entire collection some day - perhaps the presence of the photographs and digitized works will spark that interest. We hope so.
Objects in the collection include clothing (dresses, hosiery, bustles,
garters, swimwear, undergarments, aprons, and more), accessories such as shoes and boots, hats, gloves, purses, fans, handkerchiefs, furs, and parasols; menstrual and other health products; cosmetic and grooming kits, powders, and related make-up items; dresser sets (combs and brushes); curling irons and other hair care devices; perfumes; boudoir pillow covers; eye glasses; and exercise equipment. The printed matter includes numerous women's magazines, Sunday supplement illustrations, sheet music about women, suffrage postcards, World War I and II posters, photographs of teen parties, and pamphlets about sex, health, and menstruation. Page after page of ad-filled women's magazines, as well as packaging elements such as hairnet envelopes, hosiery, handkerchief and hat boxes, constitute an important part of the collection. Most of the material is American in origin.
The collection seems of most immediate interest to women's history
classes, but American literature, communication arts (especially marketing), medical history, design, and other fields should also find it useful. It is also simply a pleasure to browse!
Please pass this message along to others at your institution.
The fully searchable and browsable online collection homepage is
athttp://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/GenderStudies.DovieHorvitz
An article about the collection is at
http://www.library.wisc.edu/news/2014/10/13/dovie-horvitz-collection-showcas es-extraordinary-evolution-of-ordinary-women/ .
Phyllis Holman Weisbard Women's Studies Librarian Emerita phweisba@wisc.edu
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