I've seen the posts on how to fix the default privileges for new albums:
http://forum.coppermine-gallery.net/index.php/topic,21974.0.html (http://forum.coppermine-gallery.net/index.php/topic,21974.0.html)
However the "solution" requires a mod to the coppermine functionality. While solution works, I would think that it should be included in 1.5x as a basic config option rather than a user mod. It would probably be nice to include the ability to configure defaults for all the "Permissions for this album" options not just the visitor upload permissions.
--BT
Unfortunately, we are past the feature freeze stage for 1.5.x. Not sure if this could be done with a plugin though, it all depends on whether there are suitable hooks or if they could be added.
It cannot be included as a config option for cpg1.5.x, as we cannot add new language strings in the current stage.
I hadn't looked at the code if it's possible to create a plugin. But if you want to create a plugin and there is no matching hook, I'm sure we can add it at this stage.