MCN/Minerva Town Hall Meeting            Co-Sponsored by RLG

Keynote Speaker: Glenn Otis Brown, Executive Director of Creative Commons
Open to MCN and MINERVA participants- Free with Conference Registration

The Minnesota Electronic Resources in the Visual Arts (MINERVA) Symposium joins together with the Museum Computer Network (MCN) to present a dynamic Town Hall Meeting at the Hilton Hotel.
The Town Hall Meeting will examine copyright and intellectual property issues associated with the administration of digital image resources. Professionals from around the country associated with libraries, museums, historical and archival centers, academic and other research institutions with an interest in digital image collections are invited.

As more collections become available electronically, the demand for the availability of all types of resources and collections increases. This trend presents fiscal, logistical, and philosophical challenges to the individuals, institutions, and information professionals presiding over collections. MCN/MINERVA '04 convenes with a Town Hall Meeting to address the proprietary challenges associated with building, using and maintaining digital image collections.

The Town Hall Meeting presents special guest speakers who are experts in the field, and leaders of vital projects and initiatives to establish best practices, standards and policies in the areas of copyright and intellectual property issues.

The Keynote speaker for the Town Hall Meeting, Glenn Otis Brown, Executive Director of Creative Commons since Summer 2002, will kick off the meeting. Brown will discuss the concepts behind the Creative Commons and its innovative approaches to the marketing and distribution of intellectual works, in both the private and public spheres. With his years of experience involved with the evolution of the Creative Commons, Brown will articulate the intent of the non-profit licensing model and how it serves to expand the notion of intellectual property rights. Brown will elaborate on how the Creative Commons serves an easy yet reliable way to gain exposure and widespread distribution, and specify how the licensing structure may be useful to academics and the academic institution, entrepeneurs, non-profit organizations, and artists.

A Panel will respond to Brown's presentation, with special guest moderator Diane M. Zorich, Information Management Consultant. Panel respondents include Alan Newman, Chief, Division of Imaging & Visual Services, National Gallery of Art, Allan Kohl, Art Historian, Visual Resources Librarian at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design, and Eric Celeste, Associate University Librarian for Information Technology at the University of Minnesota.