2.8 Recommendations on images

It is clear that the current regime of images and permissions impedes scholarly publication in art history in itsprint as well as digital forms. We recommend an organized campaign to break down barriers to access and distribution of images, in allmedia and at affordable prices, for scholarly research and publication.

The specific recommendations below constitute such an effort. Its success will depend on the coordinatedleadership of the professional organizations of art historians, museum professionals, scholarly editors, research libraries, andimage purveyors, potentially including the College Art Association , Society of Architectural Historians , American Association of Museum Directors, American Association of Museums , American Association of Curators, American Association of University Presses, Council on Library and Information Resources , Research Library Group , and ARTstor .

Copyright permissions and fees

Work with museums to remove copyright restrictions on images of works currently in the public domain, onthe grounds that public access to high-quality images of such works is appropriate to the public status and educational and scholarlymissions of most museums.

Create a streamlined digital image licensing system with low- or no-cost pricing for scholarly use, and with anonline order form. Review the new collaboration developed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and ARTstor for possible expansion with other collections into a centralized rights-clearing entity,or as a model for one.

Develop a database that centralizes information on available subventions for images and permissionsfees. Professional organizations such as the College Art Association , Society of Architectural Historians , and American Association of University Presses could collaborate on such aventure.

Fair use

Support public and university libraries in their efforts to use the internet to make copyrighted and orphanworks available at the lowest possible cost to the widest communities of readers, viewers, and listeners, whenever such usecan reasonably be argued to be fair.

Print-on-demand

Encourage university presses to leverage and develop the extant expertise of print-on-demand companies to pursuehigh-quality print-on-demand services for scholarly publications in art and architectural history. Such services need not be tied toindividual publishers, but could be made available through publisher website interfaces that link to print-on-demandproviders.