Dear Dr. Dogherty,
You will undoubtedly get many responses to this question. However your best answer will come via publications from the US Government where copyrights are registered and whose courts are used to enforce them, see - http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ15a.pdf as a start.

The next step is your answer to the question; what do you own? You may own only the painting and not the any of the reproduction rights because copyright remains the property of the creator unless expressly transferred or the age of the work has moved it into public domain. Do you have any notion as to how the reproduction service acquired a copy of the painting, could it have been provided by a previous owner? Or would they had to have photographed it in your facility? And the bottom line is what do you want to have happen? Are you looking for restitution (copyright violations carry treble damages) or to protect the reputation of the institution?

My thoughts and suggestions,
Paul Stromdahl



On Tue, Sep 27, 2011 at 4:03 PM, Meghan C. Doherty <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hello all,

I have just been informed by the chair of the art department at the college where I work that one of the paintings in our collection is being reproduced to order on a wide range of sites online. The work was painted in 1899. You can order a hand painted or a printed version of our painting for a cost of anywhere from $70 to $500 in any size you choose.

To my knowledge this is not something for which anyone working for the College has given permission. Does anyone have experience with these websites? Some of them make vague claims about copyright, but I can hardly see how they can profit from the reproduction of a painting we own. I understand how not-for-profit sites might use a painting of ours on their website, but making money based on an image in our collection seems different.

Any advice or accounts of past experiences would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to respond off list at the address below.

Thank you,

Meghan


Meghan C. Doherty, Ph.D.
Director, Doris Ulmann Galleries
Curator, College Art Collections
Assistant Professor, Art History
CPO 2162  | Berea, KY 40404 | 859-985-3083 | [log in to unmask]
http://www.berea.edu/art/dug/default.asp

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Illinois State Museum, a cool place to visit.

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