Bendor on UK Museum Copyright Fees
January 5 2024
Picture: The Art Newspaper
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Bendor has penned a brilliant New Years gift to those wanting to produce beautifully illustrated publications (of two-dimensional historic artworks in UK collections). The Art Newspaper has published a piece by AHN's very own co-editor on a recent judgement on copyright in the Court of Appeal (20 November) which heralds the end of UK museums charging fees to reproduce historic artworks. Notably, UK museums have for decades been relying on the particularly low threshold of UK copyright law, in particular those laws set out by the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act.
To quote perhaps the most important part of the article:
In his ruling (THJ v Sheridan, 2023), Lord Justice Arnold wrote that, for copyright to arise: “What is required is that the author was able to express their creative abilities in the production of the work by making free and creative choices so as to stamp the work created with their personal touch”. Importantly, he went on: “This criterion is not satisfied where the content of the work is dictated by technical considerations, rules or other constraints which leave no room for creative freedom”. In other words, if the aim of a museum photograph is to accurately reproduce a painting (which it must be), then it cannot acquire copyright.
Click on the link above to read the whole article!
