CD on Russian Culture

[R. Valentino]

Dear Colleagues,
        I am currently compiling materials for a multimedia CD ROM to be
used in conjunction with our "Introduction to Russian Culture." The CD
will include high quality representations of art and architecture, short
music selections, stills from films, and a few short quick-time virtual
reality segments. The CD will be used something like an album for (1) in
class presentations and (2) student reference and study. Students will
either be able to buy a copy for 10-12 dollars each or take out a copy on
reserve at one of the university's instructional technology centers. We
are pretty well under way, scanning and digitizing, as well as
considering questions of format.
        Copyright issues, however, continue to be a problem, especially with
former Soviet sources. Although this is not a commercial project, someone
from Prentice Hall suggested I contact the Russian government rather than
trying to get permission from all the newly privatized or semi-privatized
museums and publishing houses. His thought was that, if you're going to
have to pay, it's better to pay just once and be sure you're paying the
right people. A colleague also suggested that, in lieu of payment, we
propose sharing the CD ROM with various Russian institutions of higher
education. Of course, copyright is not a problem when I use my own pictures,
but I don't have pictures of everything, and the issue of sound recordings
and films still remains problematic.
        I would appreciate any insights anyone might be able to offer,
especially concerning the issue of permission. Does anyone know precisely
to whom in the Russian government I would address such a request? Also, if
anyone has undertaken similar projects in the recent past, it would be nice to
compare notes. Thanks in advance.

Russell S. Valentino
Department of Russian
University of Iowa
russell-valentino at uiowa.edu