Moko kauae photograph for a fundraising poster
A student is preparing a poster for a school art exhibition and wants to use a 19th-century photograph of a Māori woman with moko kauae. The photograph is held by a museum and labelled 'no known copyright - photographer unknown'. The woman's name is not recorded. The poster will be printed 50 times at A3 and sold for $15 each to fund the art department. The museum's online catalogue says the image may be used for 'research and private study' and asks users to contact the collection for other uses. The student plans to crop the image tightly and add the words 'Māori art' in a modern font. A teacher suggests the image is 'safe' because it is old. The student has not contacted the museum or any iwi. The exhibition opens in four weeks and the printer needs files in two weeks.
1. Advise the student on whether the plan is appropriate, distinguishing between copyright and cultural considerations.
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Copyright and cultural rights are different. The photograph may be out of copyright because it is 19th century, but the museum's scan may be covered by its terms, and 'no known copyright' is not a licence for commercial use. More importantly, moko kauae is personal and tapu; it records whakapapa and identity. Cropping the image and adding 'Māori art' treats a named or unnamed ancestor as a generic decoration. Selling 50 prints without consent from the woman's descendants or iwi is inappropriate even if legal. The teacher's 'it is old' argument confuses age with permission. The student should not proceed as planned; they should contact the museum and iwi, seek whānau consent, and be prepared to choose another image.
2. Recommend an alternative approach if the student cannot identify the woman or her descendants.
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If the woman cannot be identified, the safest alternative is not to use her moko in the poster. The student could use the photograph only as a research reference in the visual diary, not in the final product. They could create an original design that responds to the history of moko without copying the image, or use a historic image with clear permission and known context. Another option is to collaborate with a Māori artist who can advise or provide a new work. For fundraising, choose an image whose subjects or collection terms allow commercial use. The poster can still explore the theme by explaining the provenance problem itself, but it must not expose the woman's moko without consent.
3. Explain what the student should ask the museum and why.
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Ask the museum: who deposited the photograph and when; whether the woman's name, whānau, or iwi are recorded; what the catalogue means by 'no known copyright'; whether the museum has any cultural protocols or restrictions on the image; whether the scan can be used commercially; and what credit line is required. Ask for the collection reference and any related correspondence. Also ask whether the museum has a taki or repatriation process and whether they can help contact descendants. The answers determine whether the student can use the image at all. If the museum cannot help, that is a reason to choose a different image, not a reason to proceed without consent.