Another View (Was Review of AMNH Lost World Exhibit)

[MKIRKALDY@aol.com]

dunn1@IDT.NET wrote:

>I must say that your circumstances
<SNIP>
>were no doubt calculated to blunt the criticism of the very 
>people most needed to step forward and object.  

No calculation necessary--we were all there of our own free will to check out
the exhibit and were indebted to no one.

>In fact there's nothing unusual about this sort of buttering up of the 
>experts to gain their support. 

It is more the support of the private companies which we would seek.  Funding
for dinosaur-related projects is a micro-organism.  Admissions--and gift shop
sales in particular--bring in monies to help support programs and research.
 Quality of the items may be another issue, but attendees should be given the
opportunity to buy souvenirs if they so choose.

>As to the museum's forbidding photography because of "copyright 
>concerns," why didn't someone rush over and prevent my copious 
>picture taking during the "Dinosaurs Past and Present" exhibit in the 
>Eighties, which may I say was a real exhibit and not a sleazy cash-in 
>on a movie?  And why would photography of displays in a museum 
>exhibit infringe on anyone's copyright (the perplexed attorney 
>wondered)?

The images are owned by Universal Studios and Amblin Entertainment, and the
exhibit was co-organized by AMNH and Dinosaur Exhibitions, LLC.
 Mercedes-Benz is the principal sponsor in New York.  If the sign says that
photography is forbidden, they have a valid reason for so stating.  One may
freely take all the pictures one wants in the open galleries.  

Mary
mkirkaldy@aol.com