Copyright protection

[Michele Rushworth]

He doesn't know what he's talking about and obviously isn't a copyright lawyer.

Unless his purchase of any artwork specifically states, in writing, that he is buying the copyright along with the artwork itself, he doesn't own the copyright. He doesn't have the right to make prints of it, nor does his ownership of the painting prevent the artist from making prints of it.

Putting the c copyright symbol on an artwork isn't necessary for you as the artist to retain the copyright (though it doesn't hurt, in cases where some client -- like this guy -- decides to get sticky about it.) You can put your signature on the front and sign the painting again in pencil on the back of the canvas, with the year and the c symbol, if you want to have this extra protection without having the c on the front of the painting itself.

He's not "renting" the artwork he has bought and the artists don't have the "right" to come back and take the work to photograph it later for prints. However, any smart artist would have made high quality photographs of it before delivery in case they wanted to make prints later.

I hope you didn't give up too much in your negotiations to retain what was rightfully yours from the start, ie the copyright of your painting. Sometimes I think Shakespeare was right about lawyers!

[Kimberly Dow]

No Michele - I really didnt give up anything and I still own the copyright. I am lucky that they wanted me to do this landscape so badly or it might have fallen through. The only thing added to the contract was that I'd be held to 75 prints (for sale) only of this work - and I have no intention of ever making prints, so it wasnt a biggie. I can make as many prints as I want for advertising, etc..

[Steven Sweeney]

Straight from the U.S. Copyright Office, this remains the first best place to seek answers to copyright questions:

www.copyright.gov

You will read there, for instance, that the notice of copyright (either the