OT: Digital Copyright

[tygrus2000]

Slightly off topic but I am sure there are some experts in copyright that can help me in a pinch.

My question: Is it illegal or against copyright to take a photograph of a piece of artwork such as a painting or sculpture? I am think of something that is in private use or on public display.

thx


hmmm....is there a longer registered member with less posts than me?

[housepig]

illegal to take the picture? no.

legal to use the picture in other ways? depends.

if it's art or sculpture in public display, I can't see any laws against photography of the art. If you were to print a bunch of fine art prints of a picture, cropped so it's not obvious it's a photograph, and then sell them, then you might have problems.

what are you using the pics for in the end?

[jimmalenko]

Without being a copyright guru, I think that certain works may have copyrights registered on them which restrict the reproduction of them without the permission of the author/creator/rights management team. I think also that certain museums and the like have conditions of entry that there are to be no cameras etc present. The grey area comes in when there is implied copyright - ie. ownership of IP.

A humorous bi-line to this is I went to see The Offspring in concert last week. A person behind us took a photo of Bodyjar (support act) with a flash camera and promptly got ejected by security. People were constantly taking photos with their phones and nothing was said. Go figure ???

[tygrus2000]

What if I want to make something like you see on PBS? That is, they often have 15 minute spots where they take random video around public areas of a city, then you will see them pop into a museum or art gallery and get closeups of some very nice art work. Would they have permission for this?

Also, on the webshots site, you cna download desktop wallpaper of famous artwork - does webshots hold special permission for the thousands of users that might display this?

[jimmalenko]

Without being rude about it, you would probably need to speak to a lawyer to get definitive answers to the questions you pose

What if I want to make something like you see on PBS? That is, they often have 15 minute spots where they take random video around public areas of a city, then you will see them pop into a museum or art gallery and get closeups of some very nice art work. Would they have permission for this?

AFAIK public areas are public domain. If they enter a private premises, I think they would need the permission of firstly the owner of the museum or gallery, and then possibly the copyright holders of the artwork itself.

Also, on the webshots site, you cna download desktop wallpaper of famous artwork - does webshots hold special permission for the thousands of users that might display this?

I would think that they must have rights in some way, shape or form. They would get the pants sued off them if they didn't.


If you are contemplating making any footage similar to what you have described above I would consider getting authentic legal advice or even just ask your intended venues about their policies on such.

[tygrus2000]

The any art work on public display would be fair game I take it. That makes sense.

What if someone offers up their own art collection for photography, or I use my own. Somewhere in here the copyright must end.