On 28 July 2017 at 13:28, Jean-Philippe Béland jpbeland@wikimedia.ca wrote:
Maybe I misunderstand what you wrote, but from what I read they do not claim copyright over the objects. They only tell you "do not take pictures of it". Even if an object is in the public domain, the actual physical object is still their property and they can do whatever they want with it, it does not have to be displayed and they don't have to allow photographs of it even if it is exposed. However, if such photographs str taken, they cannot restrict their distribution. This is not a case of "copyfraud" from that point of view.
If you view the images to which Fae linked, the objects are clearly labelled "protected by copyright". This has no basis in UK law.