Copyright and libraries in museums and galleries

Dear all,

I am currently trying to organise an internal briefing on copyright and this has raised questions about copyright compliance. I am therefore interested in discovering whether or not your library functions as a separate legal entity to its parent institutions?

My understanding is that the Library here is covered by Tate’s CLA Public Administration Licence. This is the licence for central government, local authorities and public bodies – Tate being a non-departmental public body.

Our Copyright manager thinks otherwise – namely we can only carry out library services as a library if we are a separate entity – otherwise we must comply as a gallery only. This would substantially alter what we offer. As services provided by the Library are governed by the licence, e.g. scan + send for journal articles, it is important to know that we are complying and are covered by the relevant licence.

I would be grateful if you could let me know what happens at your institutions.

Many thanks,

Maxine Miller

Library Collections Manager, Tate Library and Archive, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG

maxine.miller@tate.org.uk   Tel: +44 (0) 20 7887 8827  Fax: +44 (0) 20 7887 8901