copyright of photographs of two dimensional works of art

I would like to hear people's opinions on whether a photograph (or transparency) taken straight-on of a two dimensional work of art (i.e., drawing or painting) is protectable by U.S. copyright. This would be regardless of whether the underlying work of art is protected by copyright. Does anyone know of any case law which directly deals with this issue? I have read about cases of changes in media, but have not heard of anything specifically covering paintings or drawings reproduced through photography. The big question here is: Is there sufficient orginality in a photograph of a two dimensional work (which itself is copyrightable) to meet the minimum requirements of copyrightability?

Robert Panzer
<bigbusie[_at_]aol.com> Received on Thu May 22 1997 - 04:11:33 GMT