Signed & numbered?

Quoting from the Copyright Law, section 101, Definitions: A ''work of visual art'' is - a painting, drawing, print, or sculpture, existing in a single copy, in a limited edition of 200 copies or fewer that are signed and consecutively numbered by the author, or, in the case of a sculpture, in multiple cast, carved, or fabricated sculptures of 200 or fewer that are consecutively numbered by the author and bear the signature or other identifying mark of the author...

How are these requirements -- being signed and consecutively numbered -- applied? What about unsigned work when we base attribution on style (a common practice even with contemporary art)? Photographic prints are seldom numbered and publications are usually only profitable if they are distributed in larger quantities. Are they protected as works of visual art under the law?

In the 1970s, I purchased a Picasso print that was neither signed nor numbered and from what I learned later, it was reprinted from one of Picasso's original plates and released to the art market in several thousand copies. Could market dilution work against an artist (or heirs) trying to control the use of a reproduction?

I don't seem to recall seeing how any of this is ever used in arguments related to copyright and art. I realize 'art' is a huge can of worms but I wonder if a case has ever been dismissed on the basis of something not qualifying as 'a work of visual art'? Does a derivative work based on a work of visual art (a poster, for example) share these requirements if the artist chooses to sign it?

Sorry for so many questions. Thanks for any insights on this topic.

Christine L. Sundt
Visual Resources Collection
Architecture & Allied Arts Library
Lawrence Hall, Room 300
5249 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-5249 - USA

Phone: 541-346-2209
FAX: 541-346-2205 csundt[_at_]oregon.uoregon.edu
http://libweb.uoregon.edu/aaa/vrc/VRCinfo.html Copyright & Art Issues: http://oregon.uoregon.edu/~csundt/cweb.htm Received on Mon May 13 2002 - 22:18:12 GMT