Photo reproductions of art

From: Laura N. Gasaway <unclng[_at_]email.unc.edu>
Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1998 14:26:47 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time)

     I recently came across the November 13 summary judgment decision in Bridgeman Art Libary v. Corel in which the SDNY held that photographic reproductions of public domain works of art lacked sufficient originality for copyright protection under British law. See 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17920 (SDNY, November 13, 1998).

     Quoting from 57 P.T.C.J. 69, "Although photography is inherently creative, a photograph which is merely 'a copy of the work of another as exact as science and technology permits' is no more entitled to copyright protection than a photocopy."

     This is the position that art history scholars and art librarians have been advocating for some time. Do you think this case will have any significant impact on photographic reproductions created in the United States?

Lolly

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Laura N. Gasaway		     phone:  919-962-1321
Director of the Law Library 	     fax:    919-962-1193
	& Professor of Law	     email:  laura_gasaway[_at_]unc.edu

University of North Carolina
CB # 3385
Chapel Hill, NC 27599 http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/gasaway.htm *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Received on Thu Dec 03 1998 - 19:26:58 GMT