Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Colorado

I don't understand why you would want "recourse," as you have not identified any violation of rights.

Presumably, when you say, "protected art," you mean protected by copyright. But an integral part of the copyright itself is the separation of the intangible rights from the tangible object. If the copyright owner no longer owns the object (e.g., the book) in which the work is embodied then the owner of that work (e.g., the bookstore, art gallery) is free to sell it without the copyright owner's permission.

As for "and used," you do not specify what sort of use. There is not a general "exclusive right to use" in the Copyright Act. The exclusive rights are very specific and limited. For example, although there is an exclusive right to display a work publicly (such as in an art gallery), that right is limited by a provision that makes it inapplicable to a non-infringing copy of a work being displayed in the same place where the copy is located.

In general, these are pretty good limitations on the copyright, and tend to benefit the author (artist) by exposing the work to more potential fans, and benefit the public by greater access to the art.