Replica policies

[Kate Monea]

Hello all,

It was great to see many of you last Tuesday. Thank you, Matt and Brittany, for organizing!

I recently received a request from a researcher for permission to take detailed photographs and measurements of an artifact for the purpose of creating a replica. I'm wondering if any of your institutions have a policy in place regarding such requests. We have a policy that limits handling of artifacts to curatorial staff, but nothing specifically about the creation of replicas by outside researchers. This particular request is for an 1813 pistol in our collection, which adds an extra layer of complexity.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

Kate

Kate Monea (she/her)

Manager of Curatorial Affairs

USS Constitution Museum

PO Box 291812
Boston, MA 02129

www.usscm.org

[Jen Hale]

Hello Kate,

While we don't have a policy in place for this kind of usage, we do have a policy that could be applicable and that is:  

7. Right to decline and/or refuse: The Perkins Archives reserves the right to decline onsite photography. The Perkins Archives reserves the right to refuse permission to Users to reproduce, publish, or use Materials in any way for any reason.

We have used this (rarely) to deny requests for usage of photographs that we considered problematic. Specifically photographs of students being used for advertising or as a stand in for a fictional character in a book. As a school, serving a class of protected class of people, regardless of how old something is we ask for information on use, have asked for more specific information on use, and have denied it in some cases.

We did have a request to have materials reproduced for 3D printing which we allowed but it was because they partnered on the project with us, and the scanning was done at Harvard so we weren't worried about handling. Book pages however are more straightforward than a gun so there was nothing there that gave us cause for concern. Anything that makes us nervous, especially regarding liability, we run it by our legal council, which I would also recommend. 

It does make me wonder if we should have replicas in our policy and would love to hear what others have done. 

Jen

Jen

Jen Hale

(she/her/hers)

Lead Archivist

Perkins School for the Blind

175 N. Beacon St.

Watertown MA 02472

617-972-7565

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