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

On Tue, 22 Mar 2005, Michael Lippert <copyright-list[_at_]mike.lippert.name> wrote:

>

It seems that the works of art was added to the list of protected works in copyright law in 1870 (see http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1a.html). Your question makes me wonder if the paintings that were "published" (as defined by copyright law) before 1870 never had copyright at first place.

I don't see any problem copying a painting. In the old days, you just get a blank canvas, set it up by the original painting, and start copying using your best ability.

> For a work whose clock did start prior to 1900, is there any way that it
> could not be in the public domain today?

No, unless Congress does something stupid that restores copyright to the public domain works like what it did with some foreign works. However, it is possible to place some restrictions on the public domain works by using licenses that restrict your freedom to use these works in any way you wan to do. An example is http://www.nypl.org/permissions/terms.html.

> Assuming that a photograph of a painting is considered to be a copy, if a
> painting is in the public domain does that mean that anyone is entitled to
> photograph the original painting and publish that photograph regardless of
> where it is hanging without violating copyright law?

Well, the location sometimes matters. For example, some museums require you to agree to their conditions before you can take picture of anything inside the museums. But, if you buy a painting without any strings attached to the purchase, you are free to make as many copies of painting as you want.

Once copyright in a work expires, copyright law does not matter anymore. So, you really do not violate any copyright law. You only commit breach of agreement with people or entities, if the agreement is ever made.

Not every copy of a public domain painting is void of copyright. It is possible that a copy has some creative elements and if so, only these elements gain copyright.

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: 5,032

Public domain notice: I put all of my expressions in this post in the public domain. Received on Wed Mar 23 2005 - 22:10:09 GMT