I think many donors equated 'museum' with 'forever'. I seem to recall some
back and forths between a few of them on a forum somewhere when LCM first
closed, and they seemed to be under the impression LCM would be perpetual,
especially given who was behind it.
It's too bad they could have sold or donated the entire museum to another
individual/company/group. I'm assuming they must have tried that route.
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Koning <paulkon...@comcast.net>
Sent: Tuesday, June 25, 2024 11:36 AM
To: cctalk@classiccmp.org
Cc: brad <b...@techtimetraveller.com>
Subject: Re: [cctalk] Seattle's Living Computers Museum logs off for good as
Paul Allen estate will auction vintage items
> On Jun 25, 2024, at 2:27 PM, brad via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org>
wrote:
>
> I'm curious what happens to items that were donated on the understanding
that the museum would be a safe long term place for them?Pretty sad they
couldn't make it work.
There's a lot to be said for hard rules in signed contracts, though even
with those you aren't necessarily safe. (There are court precedents, in the
USA at least, where museums went against the explicit written terms of
donations and the courts somehow came up with an excuse for approving that.)
Personally, I would be very hesistant to *give* anything to a museum; the
safe route is a loan, with well crafted written terms. That way you're not
giving up ownership, and the main risk then becomes damage from inadequate
care. (And yes, that too can happen.)
paul
