MMIDS/2025/CPY - Copyright and Educational Reproduction Standard

Excerpt: Multimodal Institute publications operate under a two-tier copyright framework: scholarly documentation is shared openly under Creative Commons, while artwork images remain under full artist copyright—enabling academic discourse without compromising creator rights.

Overview

The Multimodal Institute produces scholarly documentation—research papers, nanopublications, catalog records, standards documents, and analytical texts—that frequently incorporates reproductions of artwork images for reference and illustration purposes. This standard establishes the copyright framework governing both the documentary publications and the artwork images they contain, ensuring clarity for researchers, institutions, and the public regarding permitted and restricted uses.

Two-Tier Copyright Framework

All Multimodal Institute publications operate under a dual licensing structure that distinguishes between documentary content and artwork imagery:

Tier 1 — Documentary Content (CC BY-NC 4.0): The textual content, metadata, scholarly apparatus, and structural elements of MMI publications are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. This permits sharing, citation, and adaptation of the documentation for non-commercial purposes, provided appropriate credit is given.

Tier 2 — Artwork Images (All Rights Reserved): Artwork images reproduced within MMI publications remain under full copyright of the artist. The inclusion of an image within an MMI publication does not transfer, license, or imply any reproduction rights. All rights are reserved by the copyright holder.

Permitted Uses Without Authorization

The following uses are permitted under this framework without requiring additional authorization:

- Direct citation of MMI publications with embedded images in scholarly papers, dissertations, and academic writing - Classroom instruction displaying MMI publications for educational purposes - Internal institutional records referencing MMI documentation for archival and cataloging purposes - Conservation documentation using MMI records as reference material - Scholarly analysis discussing artwork with reference to MMI documentation

In all permitted uses, the image functions as part of the cited MMI document rather than as an independently extracted asset.

Uses Requiring Artist Authorization

The following uses require explicit written authorization from the copyright holder, regardless of the open license on MMI documentary content:

- Exhibition display of artwork images in galleries, museums, or public spaces - Publication in books including art books, exhibition catalogs, museum catalogs, monographs, and retrospectives - Commercial reproduction including prints, merchandise, advertising, and promotional materials - Digital distribution of extracted artwork images outside the context of citing MMI publications - Any print run where the artwork image is reproduced for distribution or sale - Derivative works incorporating artwork imagery

The CC BY-NC 4.0 license on MMI publications explicitly does not extend to extracted artwork images. Sharing an MMI publication is permitted; extracting the image from that publication for independent use is not.

Image Inclusion Terms

Artwork images appear in MMI publications under explicit agreement with copyright holders. This agreement permits:

- Reproduction within MMI scholarly documentation - Distribution of that documentation under CC BY-NC 4.0 - Display of images as embedded components of cited publications

This agreement does not permit:

- Sub-licensing of image reproduction rights - Authorization of third-party reproduction - Any use implying transfer of copyright

Citation and Attribution Requirements

When citing MMI publications containing artwork images, the following attribution elements are required:

- Artist name - Artwork title and date - MMI publication reference (title, date, URL/DOI) - Statement that artwork image remains under artist copyright

Example citation format:

Quercy, A. (2025). G Minor - Research on Harmony - Variation 8 [Artwork]. Image reproduced in: Multimodal Institute, "Physical Specifications - AQC0866" (2025). https://multimodal.institute/en/nanopubs/... Artwork © Arnaud Quercy. All rights reserved.

Moral Rights

The artist retains full moral rights over all reproduced artwork, including:

- Right of attribution (to be identified as creator) - Right of integrity (to object to derogatory treatment)

These rights persist regardless of any licensing arrangements and are respected in all MMI publications through mandatory attribution and prohibition of substantive modification.

Institutional Inquiries

Museums, galleries, publishers, and other institutions seeking to reproduce artwork images beyond the scope of permitted uses should contact the copyright holder directly. The Multimodal Institute does not broker reproduction licenses and cannot authorize third-party use of artwork images.

Summary

Content Type	License	Permitted Uses
MMI text, metadata, documentation	CC BY-NC 4.0	Share, cite, adapt (non-commercial)
Artwork images	All Rights Reserved	View within MMI docs, cite MMI docs
Extracted artwork images	Requires authorization	None without artist permission