Replying to the question regarding whether a contemporary artist's estate
owns the right to publish photographs of that artist's works:

The answer is: It depends.

If the artist sold the copyright in the work or granted an exclusive license
in perpetuity, the artist or his federal statutory heirs may be able to
terminate that granting of rights.  The copyright statute provides for   For
any agreement made prior to 1978, there is a 5 year termination window during
which the author or the author's statutory heirs may terminate the agreement.
 The copyright will then revert to the author or the statutory heirs.  For
any agreement made prior to 1978, the 5 year termination window begins at the
end of the 56th year of federal copyright protection.  For any agreement made
after 1977, the 5 year termination window begins at the end of the 35th year
from the date of the agreement (unless the agreement included "publication
rights," then the window begins at the end of 40 years from the date of the
agreement or 35 years from the date of publication, whichever is first).

If the work was first protected by federal copyright before 1967, the
copyright will likely be owned by the artist's estate, unless the artist had
transferred the copyright to a third person.  If the work was first protected
by federal copyright from 1967 through 1977, and the author has died, the
renewal term copyright will be owned by the author's statutory heirs, not
necessarily the author's estate.  As was indicated in an earlier response, if
the work was created on or after 1-1-78, the copyright duration is life of
the author + 50 years.  Upon the author's death, his estate will own the
copyright unless it has been transferred to a third party.

Sorry about the length, but there is no quick and easy answer when the
question deals with duration of copyright and possible prior granting of
rights.

Robert Lind
Professor of Law
Southwestern University School of Law
675 South Westmoreland Ave.
Los Angeles, CA  90005
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