Museums and Galleries: Art Works

(asked on 6th December 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to ensure that national collections and other recipients of public funding make digital images of works of art held in public collections and which are outside of copyright, free of charge to non-commercial causes and for educational purposes.


Answered by
John Glen Portrait
John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
This question was answered on 14th December 2017

As arm’s length bodies of government, national museums determine their own operational matters, including the decision to charge fees for images and reproductions. National museums provide free entry for all to their permanent collections as a condition of government Grant-in-aid funding, a policy that has been hugely successful in boosting museum visits.

In addition, Museums invest significant amounts in maintaining comprehensive online collections portals displaying a wealth of free to access images and information about their collections. This particularly benefits audiences unable to visit museums in person, further extending the reach of our national museums. Museums may also licence their collections and images they produce for a variety of uses. Museums routinely supply images free of charge on request for a variety of educational and non-commercial purposes, but have the right to charge fees for certain re-uses of images they have produced. The fees are an important revenue source, allowing museums to recover costs associated with providing this comprehensive service and where applicable make a return on their investment.

Reticulating Splines