Re: Use of a portion of a painting in a brochure

On Wed, 9 Feb 2005, Graham Henderson <shenders[_at_]wellesley.edu> wrote:

>

Yes, this is the proper forum but none of what is posted here should be taken as legal advice.

> I would assume that this painting is in the public domain, but does the
> fact that it is not American have an effect on this analysis? Could a
> Fair Use argument be made here? What other copyright issues do I need to
> be aware of?

What is not clear from your post is whether you have the original painting "View of Mexico City" hanging in your office or home or you have a copy of "View of Mexico City" (i.e. postcard) or you have a photograph of "View of Mexico City" that someone took some years ago. In other words, what kind of fixed tangible thing that embodies "View of Mexico City" do you have? Where the work "View of Mexico City" is has some effect on the analysis.

Seeing that you work in library, I suggest that you borrow the book _The Public Domain: How to Find & Use Copyright-Free Writings, Music, Art & More_ by Attorney Stephen Fishman. Once you have it in your possession, go to chapter 5. There are two major parts in it. First part is for original work (that is, the original painting "View of Mexico City" that is hanging in your office or home). Second part is for art reproduction (that is, a postcard containing the painting "View of Mexico City or photograph of it).

Generally speaking, the fact that it is not American has no effect on the status of copyright. But, as the lawyers love to say, there are exceptions. The book that I suggest above explains some exceptions.

Joseph Pietro Riolo
<riolo[_at_]voicenet.com>

Number of days left until 1-1-2019 when all knowledge of 1923 in the land of the U.S.A. will be freed from their copyright owners' prisons: 5,072

Public domain notice: I put all of my expressions in this post in the public domain. Received on Fri Feb 11 2005 - 00:10:00 GMT