Re: State Susceptibility to Suit for Copyright and Patent Infringement

Alan Kabat <alankabat[_at_]aol.com> wrote:
>
> No, any work by Raphael has been in the public domain for a very long
> time!

That's not the issue. One needs a photograph. No museum that owns a Raphael painting is going to allow me to haul it down to a printer in hopes that a plate can be made without bothering to take a photo. Permission are paid for the right to reproduce photos of the work. One reason books with many photos of art works are so expensive is that the permissions are expensive. As you're in Washington, call the Smithsonian and ask (1) what they charge for permission to reproduce a photo of, say, a piece of American Indian art, and (2) if there's any way you can avoid paying that cost.

Pat Sloane
<patsloane[_at_]aol.com> Received on Fri Jul 31 1998 - 16:03:24 GMT