While other institutions may have given you permission to microfilm their documents for your project, that probably did not convey copyright to you for wider dissemination. I've found the copyright law helpful if I want to digitize existing film as libraries can make preservation copies of material and migrate material in their collections. But I cannot place the resulting images online unless I have the copyright owner's permission since internet open access is viewed as the equivalent of publishing. Your comment on national and international access leads me to believe you want to place these digital images online (internet) for access by anyone. You may need to check on the copyright and ownership of these materials. If they include materials from foreign governments (British records, etc.), the copyright laws will be different. Dean Dean DeBolt University Librarian, Special Collections John C. Pace Library, University of West Florida 11000 University Parkway Pensacola, FL 32514-5750 850-474-2213 [log in to unmask] ________________________________ From: Archives & Archivists [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jeremy Linden Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 9:04 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Digitization of microforms Dear All, Questions regarding a microforms digitization project: 20+ years ago we secured grant funding to microfilm and microfiche a large collection of land company records - some of which we own, others came from a number of institutions, both in the region and internationally. Our desire is to begin digitizing that material from the microfilm and microfiche, both to provide broader access given the national and international scale of our researchers, and to alleviate some of the pressure on our ability to provide in-house access. The original documents are not covered by copyright; that shouldn't be a concern. The microfilming was our project - so the copyright of the format shouldn't be a problem. What other concerns do I need to keep in mind? I'm not sure how ownership of the physical objects plays into this. Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, Jeremy ************* Jeremy R. Linden Head of Archives and Special Collections Daniel A. Reed Library SUNY Fredonia Fredonia, NY 14063 [log in to unmask] 716-673-3183 716-673-3185 FAX A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>