Risqué Business: Risks & Realities of Digitizing Artists’ Papers

The Archives of American Art collects, preserves and makes available primary source material documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States

What are the risks? Copyright infringement – published, unpublished, licensed. Privacy Issues – medical records, social security records, banking records, tax records, 2 nd or 3 rd person concerns. Appropriateness, Moral & Ethical Issues - nudity, lewd, lascivious, pornographic.

AAA Approach – Selection based on research value and use – Archival approach, not item approach – Do not seek copyright holder’s permission – not reasonable or feasible – Assume that almost everything falls under a broad concept of “fair use” – Display thumbnails as initial point of access – Avoid only the riskiest materials – Rely on existing archival appraisal skill set – No item-level cataloging for fully digitized collections

What we won’t risk – sort of... Photographs stamped with a statement indicating the photograph can not be reproduced without permission. Tax records (usually) Social Security numbers and records Medical records (usually) Personnel and payroll records Lewd, lascivious, and pornographic materials Nude photographs – especially those not of donor Nude photographs of children Published books/catalogs Photographs of works of art

...“oh curse this damned abortion – I can’t [can’t] be good & they say I’ve got to. Eileen I am shaved & I keep wanting your hand on me there -

Barbara Aikens Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution Moses Soyer letter to grandson Daniel Soyer, circa 1964.