I visited Haddon House on the weekend, and took some photographs. In the age of digital reproduction, it has been pretty easy to put them on this website, but there are many stages in between, and this list is an attempt to set those steps out in a way which makes clear that certain other people made and continue to make contributions to and uses of this image.

1. The Duke of Rutland acquired (inherited?) the Haddon House estate in Derbyshire. He owns all the land and improvements. 2. He employed various grounds staff, including a Head Grounds-keeper (surmise). 3. He opened the grounds to the public, and charged a fee.

4. He employed various other people to collect the fees and to regulate and provide information for visitors. 5. An employee put in place a sign requesting that no one use flash or video cameras in the house or museum. 6. The groundskeeper, concerned to protect the lawns, commissioned "please keep off the grass signs", choosing the wording and selecting the

colour and type style (a fine and elegant serif typeface). 7. A signwriter selected and cut to size an appropriate piece of wood. 8. The signwriter executed the groundskeeper's request, using great skill in sizing and spacing the letters and words.

9. The groundskeeper paid for the sign from Duke's grounds budget, and placed it in such a way as to be clearly visible. He thought it looked rather good, too, making a straight line through the fountain up the stairs to the middle level rosegarden.

10. I paid £5.50 to enter the grounds and house. 11. I read the sign about flash and video in the house and museum, but decided it didn't apply to using video in 'stills' mode, and (rather than asserting any kind of intellectual property rights was (a) about protecting objects from light damage and (b) about interfering with other visitors' enjoyment. 12. I read the 'Please keep off the grass' sign, liked the peeling paint look of it, and thought it was a pleasantly ironic point for a discussion of copyright.

13. I composed images in the video camera viewfinder, and recorded them. 14. I downloaded the images to a computer. 15. I manipulated the images using various programs. 16. I uploaded the images to trAce's server. 17. I placed the images in this webpage and uploaded this. 18. I linked to this page from my personal homepage's links page. 19. I write here that anyone who would like to link to this page or mirror it is welcome to do so - provided that I am acknowledged as the creator of the page and all its images, and that

no other images are substituted for mine, and nor are any words changed without my permission. 20. A person or persons unknown liked the photograph of the 'please keep off the grass sign' and thought it would be useful for his, her or their special interest site. They take the image, make it partially transparent and use it together with words and images of his, her or their own. They do not mention me.

Who has moral or legal rights?
Rutland? The Groundskeeper? The signwriter?
Me? Person or persons unknown?

back to journal trace

Interview with international copyright lawyer Thomas Dreier on copyright in the age of digital reproduction. This interview also addresses many of the issues raised in Mark Amerika's opinion piece at trAce. For the latter, go to Opinion.