Licensing Vintage Art

Re: Licensing Vintage Art


What an odd way of putting it. Why don't you just say you want try to sell copies?

Unless you own the copyright, and can prove it in writing, yoiu have no right to reproduce an original work of art, and if you do you could be sued by the painter or his or her heirs. This lasts until 70 years after the death of the painter. If you know the name of the painter you could try contacting him or her to offer a deal, but they would have the legal right to refuse you permission.

Licensing Vintage Art
Like I said previously, I am totally "green" when it comes to anything like this. I didn't know if I should hire an attorney of some type, go through an appraiser, or contact the family directly. Selling the copies may not be an option. I would like to share them with other family members, however, don't know the legality of copying someone else's art. The 70 year rules was very helpful. Thank you.

Karen

I have a feeling that although any kind of reproduction is technically a breach of copyright (a civil offence), that you would not get a lawsuit just by sharing copies with family members. It is when you start making money that the artist or his or her heirs might get interested.

I predict an immense fight amongst several cousins some seventy years from now.
All of them claim to possess the original.
One has even sold what she thought was the original to a buyer in Los Angeles. (That was where the trouble started, when that buyer began questioning his purchase's provence.)

Joe(then the phone rang and it was the artist's son)Nation

Vintage Originals
I knew I would get some interesting feedback with my question, and I haven't been disappointed. Thanks for your input.

Important information left out -- the name of the painter, the size, and if his work has been marketed in print form which, in most cases from that time, the publisher has copyrighted the artwork. If he did copyright it, and there would be a C in a circle painted on it if he had, but that's very doubtful -- only a limited number of artists have actually begun doing that. A publisher from around that time would have used photo-offset lithography. It's very difficult to keep a painted image out of public domain unless the artist is quite famous and his estate has thought of copyrighting even if the artist writes on the back "rights to reproduction retained by the artist." I think if you look on the back of the artwork, there's nothing there to that accord. Reproducing in a limited number of under 6 prints by a studio who has Iris giclee printing equipment, and depending on the size could cost as much as $ 600.00 or more per print. To have it done photographically in a small reproduction and given to friends and family is not against the law. A professional photographer will have a hefty fee for photographing art and the only photography process to make a large, faithful copy is Cibachrome. This could be in the same cost neighborhood as the giclee.

Believe it or not, in any kind of commercial and more-or-less hand produced limited edition prints from an original would have been after 1980. Marketing such a product on a personal basis is so difficult, you might have better luck getting from island to island on foot.

Licensing Vintage Art
Thank you so much for your input. Unfortunately, it sounds like the cost of reproducing the pieces would be more than the art is worth. Plus, we don't want to confuse the cousins (or any of our 6 children) at any point down the road.

What we have is a set of two airbrushed Polynesian dancing girls, which are signed "Gill." I have tried to find any information about them online, however, no one seems to know much about him (or her???). I have seen other works by Gill online, primarily in a poster format, but not of the pictures we have.

Anyone out there heard of this artist?

Copyright law is pretty murky and gets worse almost daily. Last I heard, original creations (books, writing, movies, art, photographs, songs, music, etc.) were under copyright for I think 97 years. Disney was scared sh#tless that Mickey Mouse would fall into the public domain (he was born in 1927 or 28), and there would go Disneyland, so they bludgeoned Congress. Even if your picture doesn't have the copyright symbol on it, it's still probably protected. Pretty much all you have to do to get copyright protection is prove that it was your idea and your production in the first place.

BUT someone said above that if you just wanted to make a copy for family members and didn't try to sell them, you should be okay, and that's probably accurate. Particularly if you don't send out press releases that say "We're making a copy of a picture by somebody named Gill for our Aunt Susie." I mean, who's going to know? Exept us on a2k, and we won't tell. Probably won't tell. okie or cjhsa might.

Laser color printers and photo printers up to 11" x 17" are fairly common, at least among printers and artists and copy shops. If you've got or have access to a fairly high megapixel, SLR digital camera, do some experiments with exposures and flash and distance and tripods and then try printing your best couple on your best printer with photo paper. If they come out good, call around and see who has a large format printer. I've seen some local (Boston) artists' prints of their work on their own large format printers, and they really do come out nice--not quite as good as giclee, to be sure, but also quite a bit less expensive. I'd guess you could get an 11 x 17 for under $50, surely good enough for the relatives.

I agree with username -- I'd just find a Staples or some other facility that will do color laser prints. They can normally do up to ledger size (11" x 17"). A print specialty shop that does reproductions of architectural drawings and plans can do it even larger. You can also get a proof and adjust the color. You can also tell them to use or bring in acid free archival paper so the print will never yellow. I wouldn't worry about selling them on a limited basis to mostly distant friends of the family. In that case, just double the cost.