Volume 52
Issue 2 Fall/Winter
Article 7
December 2025
Appendix: Recent VRA Copyright & Fair Use Work
Lael J. Ensor-Bennett
Johns Hopkins University, lensor@jhu.edu
Cynthia Mackey
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, cynthia_mackey@fas.harvard.edu
Follow this and additional works at: http://online.vraweb.org/ Recommended Citation
Ensor-Bennett, Lael J. and Cynthia Mackey. “Appendix: Recent VRA Copyright & Fair Use Work.” VRABulletin 52, no. 2 (December 2025). Available at: https://online.vraweb.org/index.php/vrab/article/view/276
This article is brought to you for free and open access by VRA Online. It has been accepted for inclusion in the VRA Bulletin by an authorized editor of VRAOnline.
Appendix: Recent VRA Copyright & Fair Use Work
Abstract
A list of recent VRA efforts in the copyright and fair use arena from 2019 to present.
Keywords
Copyright, Fair Use, Visual Resources Association
Author Bios
Lael J. Ensor-Bennett is Curator of the Visual Resources Collection at Johns Hopkins University.
Cynthia “Cindy” Mackey is Associate Registrar for Rights and Reproductions at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University.
This feature article is available in VRA Bulletin: http://online.vraweb.org/vrab
Below the Editors have compiled a list of recent VRA efforts in the copyright and fair use arena from 2019 to present.1
Schumacher, Sara, and Nancy Sims. “Encouraging Flexibility in Our Approach to Copyright: An Interview with Nancy Sims.” VRA Bulletin 51, no. 1 (June 2024). Available at: https://online.vraweb.org/index.php/vrab/article/view/246
Hosford, John. “Review of Copyright: Best Practices for Academic Libraries.” VRA Bulletin 50, no. 2 (December 2023). Available at: https://online.vraweb.org/index.php/vrab/article/view/241
Stone, Chelsea. “Copyright Management by Design.” VRA Bulletin 49, no. 2 (December 2022). Available at: https://online.vraweb.org/index.php/vrab/article/view/223
Carmen, Julie. “Using Digital Images for STEAM Education and Discovery Through Fiber Art.” VRA Bulletin 48, no. 1 (2021). Available at: https://online.vraweb.org/index.php/vrab/article/view/203
Murphy, Devon. “Knowledge Organization Systems and Information Ethics for Visual Resources.” VRA Bulletin 47, no. 2 (2020). Available at: https://online.vraweb.org/index.php/vrab/article/view/193
Shetenhelm, Summer. “Copyright Statements in Plains to Peaks Collective Digital Collections.” VRA Bulletin 47, no. 1 (2020). Available at: https://online.vraweb.org/index.php/vrab/article/view/189
Hoster, Rachel. “Art Museums and the Public Domain: A Movement Towards Open Access Collections.” VRA Bulletin 47, no. 2 (2020). Available at: https://online.vraweb.org/index.php/vrab/article/view/192
Lazet, Amy. “Intellectual Property Rights: Film, Pedagogy, and United States Code Title 17.” VRA Bulletin 46, no. 1 (2019). Available at: https://online.vraweb.org/vrab/vol46/iss1/5
1The Editors have attempted to include all relevant content and hope readers will inform us of any omissions.
Burns, Maureen. “The Rights Stuff: Ethical Decision-Making and Image Use in a Commercial Context.” VRA Bulletin 46, no. 1 (2019). Available at: https://online.vraweb.org/vrab/vol46/iss1/6
“Imagemuse x VRA” panel; Peter Dueker (Manager, Getty Research Institute
Imaging Studios), Dan Dennehy (Head of Visual Resources at the Minneapolis Institute of Art), Brendan Threadgill (Imaging Specialist, Getty Research Institute Imaging Studios), and Melissa Fournier (Head of Imaging and Intellectual Property, Yale Center for British Art); 10/8/2025
“Communicating Copyright in Museum Collections,” Emily Smith (Collections Copyright and Imaging Coordinator at the Oakland Museum of California) in “Museum Approaches to Digital Stewardship,” 10/7/2025
“Factor in or Factor out: The Changing Landscape of Fair Use and the VRA Fair Use Statement;” Lael Ensor-Bennett (Visual Resources Collection Curator, John Hopkins University), Allan Kohl (Librarian, Visual Resources and Library Instruction, Minneapolis College of Art and Design), Nancy Sims (Director of Copyright & Scholarly Communication, University of Minnesota), and Sara Schumacher (Architecture Image Librarian, Texas Tech University); 10/10/2024
“Implementing Local Contexts in Rights Management to Ground Indigenous Data Sovereignty” in “Supporting Diverse Communities in Research, Acquisitions, and Collections Care”, Emma Carter (Emma Carter, Rights Specialist, Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields), 10/9/2024
“The Human Touch: Copyright Protections for Works Created by Deities, Creatures, and Machines,” in “Beyond the Screen: Primary Source Literacy, AI, and Accessible Collections,” Kiowa Hammons (Rights Clearance Coordinator, The New York Public Library), 10/8/2024
“Copyright or Wrong: New United States Small Claims System May Help Decide,” in “New Frontiers in Visual Resources, Allie Craver (Intellectual Property Manager / IP Attorney, Pérez Art Museum Miami), 9/27/23
“Oral Histories for the Uninitiated: Transcribing, Copyright, Metadata and Everything in Between;” Jodi Hoover (Digital Resources Manager, Enoch Pratt Free Library), Barbara Elam (Associate Director of Visual Media Resources and Study Collection Librarian, Bard Graduate Center), Brittany Kester (Education Librarian, University of Florida), Xiaoli Ma (Metadata Librarian, University of Florida); 3/25/2021
2See https://www.vraweb.org/past-conferences. Please note that all titles and institutions listed for individuals presenting conference materials reflect the date of the conference and should not be considered current.
“Building a Community Digital Archive in the Post-Custodial World,” in “Collaboration and Outreach: Building Innovative Projects,” Krystyna Matusiak (Associate Professor, University of Denver), 3/25/2021
“Power and Respect: Giving Back IPR Rights to Vulnerable Communities;” Chelsea Stone (Digital Content Specialist, ProLogis), Sriba Kwadjovie Quintana (Intellectual Property Manager, SFMOMA), April Hathcock (Director of Scholarly Communications & Info Policy; Faculty Affairs Coordinator, NYU), Meredith Hale (Metadata Librarian, University of Tennessee), Kate Thornhill (Digital Scholarship Librarian, University of Oregon); 3/25/2021
“Workshop: Lesson Planning for Fair Use and Visual Literacy;” Allan Kohl (Librarian, Visual Resources and Library Instruction, Minneapolis College of Art and Design), Bridget Madden (Associate Director, Visual Resources Center, University of Chicago), Dani Brecher Cook (Director of Teaching & Learning, Library, University of California, Riverside), Molly Schoen (Visual Resources Curator, Fashion Institute of Technology); 3/26/2019
“Special Topics in Intellectual Property Rights: Motion Pictures, Archival Footage, and Film in Pedagogy;” Margaret McKee (Digital Asset Manager, The Menil Collection), Heather Seneff (Director, Visual Media Center, University of Denver), Snowden Becker (MLIS Program Director, UCLA Department of Information Studies), Amy Lazet (Visual Resources Specialist, College for Creative Studies), Claudy Op den Kamp (Senior Lecturer in Film, Bournemouth University); 3/27/2019
“The Rights Stuff: Ethical Decision-Making and Image Use in Different Contexts;” Bonnie Rosenberg (Manager of Rights and Images, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago), Sara Schumacher (Architecture Image Librarian, Texas Tech University), Nazareth Pantaloni, (Head, Copyright Program, Indiana University Libraries), and Maureen Burns (Consultant, IMAGinED Consulting & Sales Representative, Archivision); 3/28/2019
Artificial Intelligence x Creativity: Exploring the Possibilities and Potential Impacts on the Information Profession, Cathryn Copper, 10/23/2025 - 10/24/2025
Beyond Licenses: Integrating Creative Commons, RightsStatements.org, and Traditional Knowledge into Permissions Practices, Anne M. Young, 12/22/2019
3See https://www.vraweb.org/workshops.
Can We Do That?: Intellectual Property Rights and Visual Media, Anne M. Young, 11/17/23; Cara Hirsch, 06/05/2020 & 06/12/2020,11/17/2021 & 11/24/2021,10/14/2022 &10/21/2022)4
“Keynote: Ethical Digital Stewardship,” Jessica Herczeg-Konecny (Lead Technical Analyst, The Metropolitan Museum of Art) and Marshall N. Price, PhD (Chief Curator and Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University), 6/18/256
“Copyright and Beyond," Nancy Sims (Director of Copyright & Scholarly Communication, University of Minnesota)7
Current Charge: To study and monitor intellectual property and copyright issues; and to develop and promote the Association’s position on intellectual property rights issues and educate the membership on these issues.
Co-Chair: Cynthia “Cindy” Mackey (Associate Registrar for Rights and Reproductions, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard).
Co-Chair: Bonnie Rosenberg (Director of Imaging, The Art Institute of Chicago).
4This long running workshop was also held twice in 2017.
5A joint project of the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) and the Visual Resources Association (VRA), see https://www.seiworkshop.org/.
6From 2018-2022, SEI’s Keynotes focused on Ethical Digital Stewardship.
7Nancy Sims has taught these SEI sessions for the past decade.
8See https://www.vraweb.org/intellectual-property-rights-committee.