Risqué Business: Risks & Realities of Digitizing Artists’ Papers

The Archives of American Art collects, preserves and makes available primary source material documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States

www.aaa.si.edu

What are the risks?

• Copyright infringement – published, unpublished, licensed.

• Privacy Issues – medical records, social security records, banking records, tax records, 2nd or 3rd person concerns.

• Appropriateness, Moral & Ethical Issues - nudity, lewd, lascivious, pornographic.

AAA Approach – Selection based on research value and use– Archival approach, not item approach– Do not seek copyright holder’s permission – not

reasonable or feasible– Assume that almost everything falls under a broad

concept of “fair use” – Display thumbnails as initial point of access– Avoid only the riskiest materials – Rely on existing archival appraisal skill set – No item-level cataloging for fully digitized

collections

What we won’t risk – sort of... • Photographs stamped with a statement indicating the

photograph can not be reproduced without permission.

• Tax records (usually)• Social Security numbers and records • Medical records (usually)• Personnel and payroll records • Lewd, lascivious, and pornographic materials• Nude photographs – especially those not of donor• Nude photographs of children • Published books/catalogs • Photographs of works of art

...“oh curse this damned abortion – I can’t [can’t] be good & they say I’ve got to. Eileen

I am shaved & I keep wanting your hand on me there -

XXX

Barbara AikensArchives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

aikensb@si.edu

SAA Annual Conference, 2011.

Moses Soyer letter to grandson Daniel Soyer, circa 1964.