3. Visual Research: Copyright and conditions of use

(You can download this video from Media Hopper Create.)

What do you need to consider before you start a project like this?

The main thing about bringing valuable work into a studio is to ensure it is safe while it is there. Much of this is to do with storage, but it is also to do with insurance. The items all have to be insured against any damage that could occur in the studio, like floods, or fire. Emma also has to make sure that she is covered with indemnity insurance.

Are you allowed to take photographs of the items?

Emma has to take photographs of every object that she works on. She takes extensive photographs both before and after the work is done. It is important that a record is kept of what the piece was like before the work started, and also its condition just before it leaves the studio. The photographs are important to cover Emma, should anything go wrong in transportation.

Why are the photographs copyrighted to the studio?

The photographs are copyright to the studio, so if the client wants to use them they must first make sure that Emma has given her permission for them to use the photographs.

This ultimately protects them. The client does not want an image of their object freely available for others to use without their permission. So the photographs that are taken must be made copyright of the studio first and then the client is able to make a decision as to whether others can make use of it.

Does copyright affect anything else in Emma’s work?

Copyright also affects Emma if she intends to blog about the objects, or use images in a presentation. Obviously she can only use things that are either her own, or are freely available as open resources.

Does she copyright her own work?

In Conservation the techniques, the craft and the treatments that are used, are not subject to any kind of copyright. Most conservators are really open about what they do and there is a lot of sharing of information between them. In her opinion it is really important to make sure that these are openly available so that the craft and science progresses, and so that the objects can be made more openly available to everyone.

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