For those of you who love copyright of artworks, here's a question.
I was asked by the editors of College & Research Libraries News for an image
from something in our collections, preferably something wintery or related
to Philadelphia or our institution. The ALA Midwinter meeting is in
Philadelphia, so they were looking for such a theme.
We have a wonderful book in our Special Collections, "Process of wood-cut
printing = Mokuhanga junjosuri" that features the print "Secch¯u no
Yanagibashi = Yanagibashi bridge in the snow" or "Two Women Crossing a
Bridge on a Snowy Day" by Ohara Shoson. The book was published by Watanabe
in Japan. The book shows the process of adding one woodblock print after
another to the print and shows the image being built up by each separate
woodblock as it is added to the print. It's a lovely book, and I thought
the print was a nice wintery picture.
To make a very long story short, I have received copyright permission from
Watanabe's grandson in Japan to use the image from the book, and have
determined as best I can that there is no estate for Ohara (I've
corresponded coast to coast and 'round the world!).
The copyright question is this: the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
has a copy of the print, and a reproduction of the print in the book
"Shin-Hanga: New Prints in Modern Japan" is what told me this. In fact, in
the catalog entry listing in the back of the book, it says "copyright
reserved/Watanabe Shozaburo." A rights and reproductions staff member told
me that what LACMA has the copyright to is the *photo* of the print. Since
the print is a print, it seems unlikely that LACMA owns the only copy of it.
While I would be happy to acknowledge LACMA, do I really need permission
from them to reproduce the print from a very special book in my library's
collection when I have permission from the publisher and the artist seems to
have no estate? And how does anyone besides the artist hold copyright to a
print, presuming that a print is one of many?
To quote Kelly Bundy, the mind wobbles.
Sara
--
Sara J. MacDonald, Public Services Librarian
The University of the Arts - University Libraries
320 S. Broad St., Philadelphia PA 19102 USA
Voice: 215-717-6282 Fax: 215-717-6287
[log in to unmask] http://library.uarts.edu/
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