One of the challenges of producing scholarship on visual culture is related to copyright law. Unlike literary scholarship or scholarship based primarily or exclusively on verbal-text primary sources, where generally only infinitesimal portions of a work are reproduced in citations, when it comes to visual-culture artifacts, scholars generally want to reproduce works (photographs, drawings, paintings, posters) in their entirety. When those works are not in the public domain, this can be complex. Publishers and editors will often ask authors of articles and monographs to try to secure permissions and/or make determinations about the copyright status of works and/or viability of Fair Use claims. It is recommended that people in this situation seek advice from the Subcommittee on Copyright Issues of the Committee on Library and Information Resources of the Association of Slavic East European and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES CLIR).
The Subcommittee on Copyright Issues originally formed as a working group within the AAASS Bibliography and Documentation Committee in April 2003. It became an official subcommittee in June 2005. The Subcommittee on Copyright Issues provides general support on copyright issues for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian materials being used in the United States by librarians, scholars, and educators. The Subcommittee on Copyright Issues serves as a resource for copyright information, promotes ongoing study of copyright developments, and provides non-legal assistance with copyright questions. If you have a copyright query, please contact Janice Pilch.