THE COMMERCIALISATION OF MUSEUM COLLECTIONS (Komercjalizacja muzeów)

In an era of limited financial state support museums are compelled to try to obtain funds also from other sources. Next to private patronage, the commercialisation of museum collections is one of the most prominent ways of financing museum activity. The use of museum collections for commercial purposes may assume assorted forms - from the sale of reproductions to gadgets associated with exhibits familiar to the public. Every type of commercialisation yields legal problems, influencing its manner and range . First and foremost, it is necessary to remember that a part of the collections is protected by copyright. This is particularly true for modern and contemporary art whose commercial exploitation will require the indispensable consent of the author. Copyright also makes it possible to use works of art publicly, although in this case the scope is considerably limited. The author's permission is necessary for the distribution of museum gadgets such as mugs decorated with details from paintings. Such commodities are treated as so-called dependent works, comprising a separate object of copyright law. Only in the case of works which, due to the passage of time, are no longer protected by copyright will suitable consent be no longer required. On the other hand, approval must be expressed by the author of a dependent work. Last but not least , the museum may commercialise its collections by benefiting from the ownership rights due to it - the hire of museum showrooms or permission for photographic sessions. A new albeit controversial field for commercialization is profiting from the appearance of objects, e. g. charging for a drawing or a photograph of an historical monument featured on the packaging of luxury articles.