RE: Photographing purchased objects

["Croft, Janet B." <jbcroft@xxxxxx>]

The photographs are by the person who wants to use them, so that is not the
issue -- the professor owns the copyright of the photos.

The issue is the models themselves, and fair uses of them. Items do not have
to be in writing to be copyrighted.  The model bones might be copyrighted,
trademarked, or patented.  It could be argued that since there is little or no
creative work involved in the depiction of the bone itself -- these are
presumably based on real bones, or combinations of characteristics of real
bones, rendered as faithfully as possible -- that they aren't subject to
copyright.  But unless these are simply casts, there were creative decisions
made in modeling, painting, cut-away views, placement of depictions of healthy
vs. unhealthy tissue, labels and accompanying text, etc.  Even if copyright is
not an issue, there may still be patents or trademarks involved in the
manufacturing process and materials used.

Ideally, if possible, the professor should consult any printed material that
came with the models to see if there are guidelines about acceptable use.  If
they weren't kept on file, tracking down the manufacturer online would be a
good alternative, to see if they have terms of use posted publicly.

It could be argued that this is a fair use on two particular points: the
photographs are a transformative use and they do not affect the market for the
models. Additionally, the models would fall pretty low on the scale of
creative work (higher than a phone book, much lower than a work of fiction).
The risk of getting in trouble for this use is probably very low; even if
packets are for sale in the bookstore, it's very unlikely anyone but a student
will purchase them. But if the professor is extremely risk-averse, she might
want to just keep using library e-reserves or courseware so access is
restricted to her students, in spite of their desire for a course-pack.

Janet Brennan Croft
Associate Professor
Head of Access Services
University of Oklahoma Libraries
Bizzell 104NW
Norman OK 73019
405-325-1918
Fax 405-325-7618
jbcroft@xxxxxx
http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/C/Janet.B.Croft-1/
http://libraries.ou.edu/
Editor of Mythlore http://www.mythsoc.org/mythlore.html
Book Review Editor of Oklahoma Librarian
http://www.oklibs.org/oklibrarian/current/index.html
"Humans need fantasy to be human. To be the place where the rising ape meets
the falling angel." -Terry Pratchett

-----Original Message-----
From: Amalyah Keshet [akeshet@xxxxxxxxxx] [mailto:akeshet@xxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, December 14, 2009 2:07 AM
To: 'digital-copyright@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx'
Subject: RE: Photographing purchased objects

The issue isn't the bones.

The issue is the copyright in the photographs and the 3-D models.  They are
both media protected by copyright.


Amalyah Keshet
Head of Image Resources & Copyright Management
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem



-----Original Message-----
From: Bryan M. Carson [mailto:bryan.m.carson@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Saturday, December 12, 2009 1:10 AM
To: Karen Kunz
Cc: digital-copyright@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Photographing purchased objects

Hi, Karen,

My take on the situation is the same as yours. Since the bones are not
writing
they are not subject to copyright. There could be trademark issues with some
items, but the bones in the body are generic (both in the general and the
legal sense of the word). It also sounds like there are no patent issues to
worry about. As long as no trademark is showing, it should be permissible to
photograph the bones.

Bryan M. Carson

--
Bryan M. Carson, J.D., M.I.L.S., Ed.D.
Special Assistant to the Dean for Grants & Projects/ Coordinator of Reference
& Instructional Services Western Kentucky University Libraries Author, "The
Law of Libraries and Archives" (Scarecrow Press)

1906 College Heights Blvd. #11067
Bowling Green, Kentucky  42101-1067
Phone: 270-745-5007; Fax: 270-745-2275bryan.carson@xxxxxxx |
bryan.m.carson@xxxxxxxxx All original content copyright 2009 Bryan M. Carson

Karen Kunz wrote:

  I have an Anatomy instructor who has created digital handouts for her
students
  comprised of photographs of bones along with her additional narrative of
what
  each part of the bone is called. The 3-D models of the various bones that
were
  photographed were purchased from various companies and there is no
identifying
  mark on any of them.

  The students would like to purchase these handouts in a packet (as opposed
to
  individually printing them). My instructor is wondering what copyright
issues
  might arise from changing the access to these documents from digital (only
her
  students) to selling them in the bookstore (general public).

  Since the documents are obviously under her copyright, the issue becomes
  whether she could sell photos of the 3-D models. Since the models are of
  something common (bones) and are not distinctive, I couldn't see any
problem
  with her selling her handouts. Does anyone else see an issue that I might
have
  missed?

  Thanks for any insight you can give me.

  Karen

  Karen Kunz
  Oregon Institute of Technology Libraries