Museums regularly publish copyrighted works online. If the museum itself is not a copyright holder (and the copyright has not lapsed), a museum must first arrange permission. Sometimes this goes wrong, resulting in copyright infringement.

When the Moluccan Historical Museum closed its doors, the operating foundation published part of the collection online. Part of the photo collection was also offered for payment, made available to online image banks and used on the cover of a book published by the Foundation. According to the wife of the deceased photographer of the photographs, the Foundation thereby infringes the photographer's copyrights. Among other things, she seeks cessation of the infringement, damages and a rectification.

The court (in Dutch) assumes copyright infringement. The Foundation does not have a license to use, nor have the copyrights to these 55 photographs been donated to the Foundation. The Foundation cannot invoke the cultural heritage institutions limitation: this applies only if there is no representative collective management organization granting an extended license. Also without merits is the defense that the Foundation, as owner, possessor and holder of the photographs, may reproduce and disclose the photographs. In fact, this restriction only applies if it is necessary to publicly exhibit or sell the work. The Foundation must pay damages equal to the lost usage license of over 5,000 euros. Here the number and type of photographs, the possibility of impairment of exclusivity of the photographer's oeuvre and the event photographed weigh in.

The judgment is not groundbreaking, but it nicely illustrates the concerns and potential risks involved when putting photos online.