Copyright for Museum Collections

Is Respect Enough, or Should We Manage Them?

Keywords: management, copyright, intellectual property, museums

Abstract

This article investigates whether museums are shifting from having users respect the copyright to their collections towards becoming intellectual property managers. Based on interviews and surveys, I answer additional research questions: What is the awareness of the importance of copyright to museum collections? Do museums create copyright management policies? What difficulties do they face when acquiring copyright to collections? I study this issue using the example of Polish public museums. The research shows that despite the importance of copyright, museums in Poland do not undertake any actions to manage this area. The difficulties in implementing strategic solutions include shortages in human resources (and the related lack of time and competence) and indecisive management.

Author Biography

Anna Pluszyńska, Jagiellonian University

Doctor of humanities in the discipline of management sciences, assistant professor at the Faculty of Management and Social Communication at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, cultural manager, accessibility coordinator, promoter of openness, vice-president of the Institute for Cultural Organization Research. Her main area of research is managing intellectual property (especially copyright in museums) and the broadly understood openness and accessibility of cultural institutions.

References

Bertacchini, E. & Morando, F. (2011). The Future of Museums in the Digi-tal Age: New Models of Access and Use of Digital Collections. Univer-sità di Torino.

Bosomtwe, O., Buchner, A., Janus, A., Wierzbicka, M., & Wilkowski, M. (2018). Dobro Wspólne. Pasja i Praktyka. Cyfrowe Zasoby Kultury w Polsce. Warsaw: Centrum Cyfrowe Projekt: Polska. fi-le:///C:/Users/annap/Downloads/raport_DobroWsp%C3%B3lnePasjaiPraktyka.pdf.

Buchner, A., Janus, A., Kawęcka, D., & Zaniewska, K. (2015). Otwartość w instytucjach kultury. Raport z badań. Warsaw: Centrum Cyfrowe Projekt: Polska. https://ngoteka.pl/bitstream/handle/item/287/open%20glam%20raport%20net.pdf?sequence=3.

Buchner, A., Urbańska, A., & Wierzbicka, M. (2021). Kultura w Pandemii. Doświadczenie Polskich Instytucji Kultury. Warszawa: Centrum Cyfro-we Projekt: Polska.

Drabczyk, M., Janus, A., Sanetra-Szeliga, J., & Strycharz, J. (2020). Pan-demia w Kulturze. Szansa Na Pozytywną Zmianę? Warszawa: Open Eyes Economy Summit.

Drela, M., & Gredka, I. (2014). Prawo autorskie w działalności muzeów. Warszawa: NIMOZ.

Folga-Januszewska, D. (2011). Muzeum jako narzędzie edukacji. In: D. Folga-Januszewska & B. Gutowski (eds.), Ekonomia Muzeum. Kra-kow: Universitas.

Glinka, B., & Czakon, W. (2021). Podstawy badań jakościowych. Warsza-wa: Polskie Wydawnictwo Ekonomiczne.

Guidelines for the Use of Copyrighted Materials and Works of Art by Art Museums. (2017). Association of Art Museum Directors. Retrieved from: https://aamd.org/sites/default/files/document/Guidelines%20for%20the%20Use%20of%20Copyrighted%20Materials.pdf.

Gwoździewicz-Matan, P. & Jakubowski, A. (2019). Enhancing the Mobility of Collections and Access to Cultural Heritage: Immunity of Cultural Objects from Seizure in Poland. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 25(3).

Johnson, P. (2009). Fundamentals of Collection Development and Man-agement. Chicago: American Library Association.

Łada, P. (2019). Prawo autorskie w muzeum. Przewodnik ze wzorami umów. Warsaw: Wolters Kluwer.

Lis-Gutiérrez, J.-P., Viloria, A., Gaitán-Angulo, M., Balaguera, M.I., & Rodríguez, P.-A. (2016). Museums and Management of Intellectual Property. International Journal of Control Theory and Applications, 9(44), 457–462.

Marciano, A. & Moureau, N. (2016). Museums, Property Rights, and Photographs of Works of Art. Why Reproduction through Photograph Should Be Free. Review of Economic Research on Copyright Issues, 13(1), 1–28.

Martinet, L. (2020). Interactions between Intangible Cultural Heritage and Intellectual Property Law. In: M. Cornu (ed.), Intangible Cultural Heritage Under National and International Law. Going Beyond the 2003 UNESCO Convention. Cheltenham–Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Matassa, F. (2011). Museum Collections Management: A Handbook. London: Facet Publishing.

Murray, R., Caulier-Grice, J., & Mulgan, G. (2010). The Open Book of Social Innovation. The Young Foundation – NESTA.

Museums around the World in the Face of Covid-19 (2021). UNESCO.

Pantalony, R.E. (2007). Wipo Guide on Managing Intellectual Property for Museums. World Intellectual Property Organization.

Pantalony, R.E. (2013). Managing Intellectual Property for Museums. Geneva: WIPO. Retrieved from: https://www.wipo.int/publications/en/details.jsp?id=166.

Pluszyńska, A. (2020). Copyright Management by Contemporary Art Exhi-bition Institutions in Poland: Case Study of the Zachęta National Gal-lery of Art. Sustainabiblity, 12 (4498): 1–24. DOI:10.3390/su12114498.

Pluszyńska, A. (2021). Copyright Management in Museums: Expediency or Necessity? Museum International. Empty Museum, 73(3–4), 132–143. Retrieved from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13500775.2021.2016281.

Porter, B. (2002). Putting Together a Museum’s IP Policy: Renaissance ROM as a Case Study. NINCH Copyright. Retrieved from: http://www.ninch.org/copyright/2002/toronto.report.html#bp.

Prawne aspekty digitalizacji i udostępniania zbiorów muzealnych przez internet (2014). Warsaw: National Institute for Museums and Public Collections.

Sacco (2020). Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Cultural and Creative Sectors: Impact, Innovations and Planning for Post-Crisis. Retrieved from: https://www.oecd.org/cfe/leed/culture-webinars.htm.

Sanderhoff, M. (2014). Foreword. In: M. Sandehoff (ed.), In Sharing Is Caring. Openness and Sharing in the Cultural Heritage Sector. Copen-hagen: Statens Museum for Kunst.

Virginia Museum of Natural History Copyright and Patent Policy (2000). Reproduced in the AAM Intellectual Property Resources Pack. Ameri-can Association of Museums.

Young, A.M. (ed.) (2019). Rights and Reproductions: The Handbook for Cultural Institutions. Lanham: American Alliance of Museum, Rowman & Littlefield.

Zalasińska, K. (2013). Muzea Publiczne. Studium Administracyjnoprawne. Warsaw: LexisNexis.

Zorich, D.M. (2019). Developing Intellectual Property Policies: A How-To Guide for Museum. Retrieved from: https://www.canada.ca/en/heritage-information-network/services/intellectu-al-property-copyright/guide-developing-intellectual-property-policies.html.

Published
2023-08-10
How to Cite
[1]
Pluszyńska, A. 2023. Copyright for Museum Collections: Is Respect Enough, or Should We Manage Them?. Perspectives on Culture. 42, 3 (Aug. 2023), 517-534. DOI:https://doi.org/10.35765/pk.2023.4203.30.