Lawsuit in the copyright dispute

The legal dispute over the copyright of a Wagner portrait from the Reiss-Engelhorn Museum in Mannheim and Wikimedia, which was highlighted in October, was followed in November by a lawsuit from the city of Mannheim, which "17 photos of public domain paintings from the holdings of the Reiss-Engelhorn Museums in Mannheim [concerns] that have been uploaded to Wikimedia Commons” .

Museum 's warning against using the Wagner portrait on the Wikimedia Commons site was followed by an injunction in October, which was dismissed in the judgment of October 28, 2015 .

The ongoing sample process continues to clarify the question of the use of reproduction photographs of works in the public domain. The photograph is protected according to Section 72 of the German Copyright Act (UrhG) , which protects the photograph for 50 years after the date of production. Wikimedia argues this in a blog post : “Protection periods are only legitimized by the fact that they end. After the deadline, works should be able to be reused and reintroduced into the cultural participation of all. This is also part of the intent of copyright law. What is not included is a deadline extension through the back door.”

Based on case law, the Guide: University Collections and Copyright of the Coordination Office for Scientific University Collections updated and expanded to include references. The question of copyright usually arises when the collection is to be presented to the public, whether as a reproduction on the Internet or in the form of an exhibition. The guide recommends documenting all processes related to copyright and property rights and maintaining management Publishing digital images in a database enables electronic rights management and the storage of copyrights and usage rights as well as corresponding documents directly on the image.

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