On 4/11/06, Mak makwik@gmail.com wrote:
According to a number of librarians I've spoken with, a number of US Museums and libraries would differ with you on that.
If the work is out of copyright, they can only do that by requiring agreement to a legally valid and binding contract before letting you see the work. This is the case worldwide, in most cases. Nations differ as to whether an accurate 2D copy is itself copyrightable, but my understanding of the law is that once something is out of copyright, it can be legally copied unless you sign a contract stating you won't.
If an 'unauthorised' copy is made, the issue is almost entirely one of contract law, not copyright law.
I'm uncertain of what the legal position is if the owner of a work insists that "since we require everyone accessing this work to agree to a contract, this copy must be illegal" but fails to identify who was in breach of their contract and thus prove the breach of contract.
There's also the issue of how binding are unsigned contracts, in the case of things exhibited to the public.
-Matt