Re: Murphy to cop plea on federal charges

[Zelda <drakeducaine@yahoo.com>]

--- On Thu, 3/19/09, MKIRKALDY@aol.com <MKIRKALDY@aol.com> wrote:
Shouldn't the company that was going to make those  molds and casts have 
known that it was a new specimen and asked for  documentation on it?  "Oh, I 
found 
it under a turtle" isn't very  convincing. 

Mary
--

Who or what company made those molds? Technically Mary's right, for everyone to 
have their butts covered the molding/casting operation should be asking 
questions. However, there are a lot of businesses out there that cater to 
molding and casting for artists, garage model kits, etc., rather than the 
sciences and more specifically fossils. In this case these businesses might not 
have the knowledge to ID a species beyond what the client tells them it is, or 
even know to get proper documentation for the specimen and sort out issues such 
as casting and reproduction rights. I've seen artists have their work 
reproduced without permission and sold for profit by a third party. Certainly 
doesn't make it right (or LEGAL), but unfortunately it happens! Fortunately, 
the businesses that specialize in paleo-replicas (at least here in North 
America) are well known and can be judged by the paleo community for the 
quality of their work in all aspects.

Michelle Pinsdorf