This paper will focus on three key issues in the management of museum intellectual property through contract law or copyright, emphasizing the need to understand users as a key to effective access: 1) the paper will present a general overview of the state of the law as it pertains to museum intellectual property comparing the US, Canada and European Union. The purpose of this discussion will be to assist museum administrators in identifying their intellectual property. Specific attention will be given to digital images and "collections of museum information" - ie. Databases. 2) once museum administrators have determined what intellectual property may be available, their next step must be to identify their users and the uses requested. The paper will focus on educational users for non-profit and for profit use and commercial users for profit use. The discussion will focus on various exceptions and defences, such as fair use and fair dealing available in the US, Canada and the European Union that allow users to access museum intellectual property without prior authorization. 3) mechanisms or vehicles to facilitate reasonable access to museum intellectual property will be explored. Copyright provisions may not provide sufficient protection in our current legal environment for certain types of intellectual property.