Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New Jersey

Re: Copyright and name use

If you own oil paintings, but do not own the copyrights or the copyrights have not expired, then the copyright owner retains the exclusive right to make reproductions.

Regards,

Don Cox

Re: Copy right and name use

Gee. If you buy a book from the bookstore, are you allowed to make photocopies of it and sell them without permission? No.

It's no different with a painting, unless the artist gave you permission to make and sell copies of the painting. You do have the right to re-sell the painting itself, of course.

The "image" that you own outright is the painting itself. You don't own the "copyright"--that is, the right to make copies of that "image."

The only way you could make and sell copies of a painting without the artist's permission is if it was clearly a "work for hire" including all derivative rights. I.e., you hired the painter specifically to paint the painting at issue, and as part of the deal, he specifically granted you the copyright in the creative work.