Who owns the rights....?

Hi Gordon,

> Once the painting is sold, do I as the owner
> get to make prints without his permission, I
> don't get this part of the Art biz...I'd
> prefer to "lock him down" and
> maybe be a rep for a % of his work??? Again,
> I'm just thinking at this point.

I'm not sure, but my guess would be you would need his permission to make prints, so perhaps you should inquire about this before you buy it....

I think it would come down to copyright law. I think even if you bought the painting, he still owns the copyright on it (as the creator). I think it's perhaps like buying a book - even if you bought the original manuscript, the author still owns the copyright.

I don't know for sure, but that's how it would look to me (from what I know about copyright law)....

I think any artist, however, would probably be happy to have others selling his or her works, where the profit is shared. He or she gets a cut, and you also get a cut of the profit.... This is the kind of thing I'm considering doing in the future with my "artist friend" I've mentioned earlier and some of his art work....

We were also thinking of doing LIMITED prints as well. I think the value goes up if the print run is strictly limited. Limited prints, though, can mean several thousand prints.

Thanks Gordon, this is a fascinating thread. :)

- Dien

In fact, the artist would have to sign the rights over.

There are many types of rights, including "first printing" rights, "First North American rights", "First world rights", as well as "digital rights" and so forth.

It's impossible to predict what the artist will do -- depends on how knowledeable he is about subsidiary rights.

And no printing company will touch the work for reproduction without a signed statement saying that you've acquired the rights.

> In fact, the artist would have to sign the
> rights over.

> There are many types of rights, including
> "first printing" rights,
> "First North American rights",
> "First world rights", as well as
> "digital rights" and so forth.

I did not know there were so many different "rights"! "Digital Rights" intrigue me. Does this mean that even posting a picture of the art piece on the web could be in violation of someone's rights? Does anyone know where I can get additional information on these "rights"? (Especially digital rights)!

> It's impossible to predict what the artist
> will do -- depends on how knowledeable he is
> about subsidiary rights.

> And no printing company will touch the work
> for reproduction without a signed statement
> saying that you've acquired the rights.

> Does this mean
> that even posting a picture of the art piece
> on the web could be in violation of
> someone's rights?

Yes. And in fact, you may NOT be doing the artist a favor, since you're enabling other folks to use the art. Not all countries agreed to the international copyrights treaties, so it's easy for someone in China to take what you post, print and use it in a book, and sell the book. The artist can't fight that.

I know of one artist who had his work posted with no credits on the net by a fan. The artist's work was used in a book printed here in America -- no credit, no payment, and he couldn't prove the work was his. Another had their work distributed as "free art" and THAT art ended up on a Corel clip art disk.

> Does anyone know where I
> can get additional information on these
> "rights"? (Especially digital
> rights)!

Here ya go:
http://www.rexx.com/~jaguar/copyright.html