Secret 3D scans in the French Supreme Court (cosmowenman.substack.com)

Article summary

A court case in France involves a dispute over access to 3D scans of museum artifacts, with the museum claiming that releasing the scans would harm their gift shop sales. The court ruled that the museum's revenue and business model are irrelevant to the public's right to access the scans. The case highlights the tension between preserving cultural heritage and controlling access to digital reproductions of public domain works. The museum's arguments against releasing the scans have been criticized as unfounded and self-serving.

Main themes

• Public access to cultural heritage
• Copyright and public domain
• Museum revenue and business models
• Digital preservation and reproduction
• Freedom of information laws

What commenters say

• The museum's claim that releasing 3D scans would harm their gift shop sales is unfounded and self-serving.
• Copyright law does not apply to public domain works, and the museum is obligated to provide access to the scans under freedom of information laws.
• Requiring attribution for public domain works can be seen as restrictive and counterproductive to the goal of promoting access to cultural heritage.
• Derivative works can have their own copyrights, which can lead to complex issues around ownership and control of digital reproductions.
• A system where derived works are also in the public domain would promote greater access and reuse of cultural heritage.
• Exponentially increasing fees for copyright renewal could provide a solution to the issue of perpetual copyright, but may favor large corporations over individual creators.
• The value of 3D scans to museums is often overstated, and the potential revenue from selling them is limited.
• Releasing 3D scans of public domain works can have significant benefits for education, research, and cultural preservation.