[NOTE: Since they authorized a public reply, we're keeping the name of the member organization submitting the question in this RAQ. Usually, we genericize, but in this case, we trust you see why we kept the member's name in the question.]
QUESTION
I am continually fascinated by the evolution and impact of names.
For instance, when I read the name of the member submitting the question, I immediately thought:
I've seen libraries take pictures of book covers and promote them on their library social media page, and was wondering if the same policy holds for movies. Can we take a picture of the front covers our new DVDs and promote them on Facebook? Or is it preferred that patrons browse our new DVDs in the library and/or on our library catalog?
There are a lot of legal technicalities hidden in this question, but before we get to them, here is my overall advice: The more your library generates unique, custom content showing the people, personalities and experiences of your library on your social media,[1] the more you can include copyright and trademark-restricted content in social
Are libraries legally required to obtain photo releases from all patrons (children's parents, teens, adults), even if we don't name those patrons before publishing photos to our social media accounts and/or press releases?
This is a huge question. To answer it, let’s start with where the mania over image releases comes from.
New York Civil Rights Law, §50, states:
A member collaborating on a conference asked for some general legal advice to keep in mind when selecting a name for the event (“branding”).
Branding and trademark questions are some of my favorite “Ask the Lawyer” submissions. Since GLAM institutions[1] attract innovators and creative professionals, new products and services emerge from them at an impressive rate. And because the people driving the development tend to have degrees in esoteric areas of the humanities, you get a lot of cool logos and names.
At a recent WNYLRC webinar, we discussed the ownership of materials generated by library staff. Who owns the massive amount of original work generated by an active, engaged library staff?
The answer is: it depends.
Let’s start with the fundamentals:
We would like to digitize newspapers that were published prior to 1923. Since the paper is still in business, does public domain apply in this case? They are very difficult to deal with. We do have a contact there. However, if there is nothing stopping us from digitizing the older issues, we prefer not to deal with them.
You have confirmed that the “Buffalo Evening News” (and other iterations) content originates BEFORE the strategic “1923” date confirmed by the Copyright Office (Circular 15a) as in the public domain. This is true whether the original article or image was owned by the paper, or licensed by the paper and owned by another person or entity.
