Re: University Photos

**"Christopher P. Lindsey" topica.com@spamfodder.com>**

> Lon, all I can tell you is that the University of California is a 
> self-proclaimed God unto itself.  Researchers employed by that institution 
> who apply for and receive grants have to turn over a substantial portion 
> (50% as I recall) to the University for "managing the grant."  Do they make 
> a profit?  You bet they do.  It was fortunate they had such a sizeable nest 
> egg to fall back on when then Gov. Reagan saw to it the university was 
> severely penalized financially in the late '60s. The university struggled 
> on until better days, although they lost the illustrious faculty to other 
> institutions.  Do the Regents own every photo taken by UC 
> photographers?  If they say so, I guess they do.  Arrogance R Us is their 
> motto.  Margaret Lauterbach

Despite the fact that I'm a University of Illinois employee, I don't
pretend to understand all of the inner workings of the grant process.
I do know that the University takes its share of any grant money that
comes through, overhead costs on employees that are hired with grant
money, etc.  

I'm really responding because one thing bothered me in Lon's original
email.  He said

   "I've always held the belief that university material was intended
   to be available to the public for all reasonable uses."

This is a pretty common misconception that many people have.  At NCSA,
where I work, we develop lots of computer software and applications.
Some of it does make it out into the real world for free (NCSA telnet,
the first Web server and graphical Web browser, etc.)  A fair amount of
it stays under wraps, though.

Granted, the computer side of things is a little different than the
horticulture side of things.  But I've still encountered problems on that
front.  

While I was a graduate student I wrote some computer software and programmed
a Web site that used my personal images, those of a non-U of I professor,
and the personal images of a U of I professor.  The text descriptions for
all plants were also written with non-University funds.  The only portion
of the program that fell under the University's copyright was the program
itself, not the content.

Yet we continue to find individuals and institutions taking our images and
text and inserting them into their own works because it was affiliated with
the University.  We have a University copyright notice because the software
is the University's, but each image and text has a copyright notice that
shows who the original authors were.  But people can't seem to get past that,
and once they see the University notice they just assume that it's free
for the taking.

I remember one case where a major Arboretum was putting out a plant guide
with federal grant money and called us the day before it went to print
just to double-check that it was OK to use the images.  We worked something
out, but it was still frustrating.

I feel like I've just been ranting, so take it as that -- a rant.  Thanks
for letting me get it off my chest.  :)

Chris

http://www.hort.net/gallery/      2602 online plant photos and growing!
http://www.hort.net/gallery/date/2002-04-28/       The latest additions

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