Photographs of cultural collections are an essential means of disseminating art and democratizing access to culture. This article reviews the policies of five major Australian galleries on access to their collections. It finds they tend to claim copyright in photographs of their collections, including of public domain works. This reflects a perceived entitlement to control access to their digital collections, often bolstered by a misstatement of copyright exceptions, restrictive quasi-copyright contract terms, licensing practices, and physical property rights in photography's appurtenances. This curbs the emancipatory potential of digitization, generating a conflict between the property interests of cultural institutions and the public interest in enhanced access to culture. The problem is particularly acute with respect to images of public domain art, exclusive control over which diminishes the public domain. This article considers the novel question of whether copyright subsists in photographs of two-dimensional art under Australian law, arguing that such photographs lack the originality indispensable to copyright subsistence. This conclusion significantly undermines cultural institutions’ licensing models and challenges misconceptions of property rights in the photographic surrogates of two-dimensional cultural objects. The article urges cultural institutions to liberate the digital surrogates of public domain art to enhance access to cultural capital.

中文翻译：

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数字化文化获取：根据澳大利亚版权法，二维艺术照片具有版权

文化收藏品的照片是传播艺术和使获取文化民主化的重要手段。本文回顾了澳大利亚五个主要画廊关于其藏书获取的政策。它发现他们倾向于在其收藏的照片（包括公共领域的作品）中主张版权。这反映了人们对控制访问其数字馆藏的权利，通常是由于误述了版权例外，限制性的准版权合同条款，许可惯例以及摄影器材中的物权而造成的。这限制了数字化的解放潜力，在文化机构的财产利益与增加文化获取的公共利益之间产生了冲突。对于公共领域艺术的图像而言，这个问题尤为严重，对它的排他控制减少了公共领域。本文考虑了在澳大利亚法律下二维艺术照片中版权是否仍存在的新问题，认为此类照片缺乏版权生存所必需的独创性。这一结论极大地破坏了文化机构的许可模式，并在二维文化物体的摄影替代中挑战了对财产权的误解。文章敦促文化机构解放公共领域艺术的数字替代品，以增加对文化资本的获取。本文考虑了在澳大利亚法律下二维艺术照片中版权是否仍存在的新问题，认为此类照片缺乏版权生存所必需的独创性。这一结论极大地破坏了文化机构的许可模式，并在二维文化物体的摄影替代中挑战了对财产权的误解。文章敦促文化机构解放公共领域艺术的数字替代品，以增加对文化资本的获取。本文考虑了一个新问题，即根据澳大利亚法律，二维艺术照片中的版权是否仍存在，理由是此类照片缺乏版权生存所必需的独创性。这一结论极大地破坏了文化机构的许可模式，并在二维文化物体的摄影替代中挑战了对财产权的误解。文章敦促文化机构解放公共领域艺术的数字替代品，以增加对文化资本的获取。这一结论极大地破坏了文化机构的许可模式，并在二维文化物体的摄影替代中挑战了对财产权的误解。文章敦促文化机构解放公共领域艺术的数字替代品，以增加对文化资本的获取。这一结论极大地破坏了文化机构的许可模式，并在二维文化物体的摄影替代中挑战了对财产权的误解。文章敦促文化机构解放公共领域艺术的数字替代品，以增加对文化资本的获取。