Rights in contributions

People contribute through different relationships to material. The owner of a camera, photographer, portrait subject, print maker, caption author, institution can each have a relevant role. Staff discuss physical custody, authorship, attribution, recording, publication, reproduction, generated use separately.

A visitor makes a portrait during Housewarming. The camera's owner does not automatically receive every private account associated with the image. The photographer and subject review possible exhibition. Staff consider custody of the print and permission for a digital account. A later annotation becomes another contribution with its own author.

The institution needs practical agreements and review appropriate to the actual use. Authorship, new objects, permissions describe the proposed procedure. A participant can allow archival retention while choosing a narrower public audience. A later commission requires examining the relevant rights again rather than assuming the original event permission covers every use.