Subject: Answer, Krisztian.....
Hello Krisz, and Arlene,
In answer to your questions about is there anyone out their that still holds the rights to the earlier works, yes, most definitly. If that piece you found was in a book, then the heir to the rights is who sold the publication rights to the publisher. Rights to a piece of artwork in all forms automatically are covered by a new law as of 1976 or 78, which gives all artists 100% rights. Works created earlier are under a different law, but most of the works are protected.
The rights of reproduction lasts for the artists lifetime, after that the heirs are given 50 years or so, then they pass it down to the next generation, and so on and so on...so don't ever think that because someone several hundred years old does no longer have a link to the future, as they do.(And so will all
the artists here too!)The only way you can reproduce that is to list it as a study piece, it does not matter about the medium. You can however, find out who the legal heir is, and ask permission to copy.(Good Luck on that one!)
Sorry to report, but this is a very nasty industry, and does not leave alot of loopholes open. If you get caught selling it off as your original,(other then for study) then you could face a lawsuit.
Make no bones about it, people get sued all the time for doing it.
The subject of the painting is what is protected, and everything in it, that includes both positive and negative space.
Media change will not be good enough, sorry.
Barb
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