Wow...that's definitely a conundrum. We are a federal museum and over the years have had people coming in to photograph various artifacts from the collection -- from aircraft to buttons -- to be used for commercial purposes. We do request that we receive proper credit and complimentary copies of whatever publication our objects are highlighted in (some folks are better at that latter part than others).
What is so unique about this uniform that the requester can't locate the information in myriad publications or online resources? If it's a US military uniform, there are definitely no shortage of resources out there in the public forum that detail measurements, patterns, etc.
If the requester was looking at other clothing items from your collection from which to make patterns, then I would recommend researching a partnership in which the museum earns a percentage of the sales and credit on the packaging, so it says from the Wheaton College Collection (or something to that effect). Check with your governing body, your accession records, and a lawyer if you have one for the best advice; if you can legally make money from it, then I recommend you try!
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Carrie Bowers
Museum Specialist
National Museum of the Marine Corps
Triangle VA
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-23-2017 10:58 AM
From: Leah Niederstadt
Subject: Access to collection objects for commercial purposes
Dear colleagues,
I've received an outside inquiry asking for access to a costume in our collection for the purpose of measuring and photographing it to create a pattern of the costume (and, possibly, reproductions of the costume) for commercial sale. (The costume is a military uniform from the 1940s.)
My initial thought is that we would not allow someone to photograph objects in our collection if their intent was to reproduce those images on tote bags or coffee mugs (or anything) to sell commercially, and this request seems similar.
Any advice or guidance is welcome, as well as any resources that may help us figure out how to respond to the request.
Many thanks,