What are the copyright concerns when digitizing documents or photographs that you do
not own?
If you own the copyright rights for a photograph or document, you may do with it what you like. Eric,
in the introductory scenario, is in no conict with copyright law when he posts pictures he has taken, or
interviews he has conducted. Likewise, the photographs of the USS San Saba appear to be snapshots taken
by the servicemen, or their families on shore. If a library or museum wishes to create a website showing
their collections, they must rst determine what they own the copyright to. An established archive usually
requests a transfer of copyright when they receive or purchase an item (Minow 2002a). However, historical
collections in libraries of all sizes may be made up of items that nobody knows where they came from.