Who owns the Copyright? Artwork, Photography and Derivative works

 Who owns the Copyright? Artwork and Photography

Ownership of a book, manuscript, painting, artwork, audio or video recording does not give the possesor the copyright.

The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright. In the case of works made for hire, the employer and not the employee is considered to be the author.

You will generally need permission from the owner of copyright in the  artistic work unless the copyright has expired. It is unlikely you  need permission in relation to the photograph, if the photograph depicts nothing but the artistic work and is indistinguishable from other photographs of the same work. Otherwise, you will generally need  permission from the owner of copyright in the photograph.

In other words, when someone photographs a painting of Van Gogh in a  museum, producing a picture that is indistinguishable from other photographs of the same work, this cannot be considered an original
art creation: it is precisely requested that the photographer annihilate his own personality to only mirror the artist’s own personality and reflect the artwork with maximum fidelity through the photograph. Thus, the photographer does not hold any copyright on the picture itself.

The creator of the photograph, i.e. the photographer, usually holds the copyright to the photo and, unless they’ve expressly given permission for its use, making a painting based on a photo would infringe the photographer’s copyright. In terms of US copyright law: “Only the owner of copyright in a work has the right to prepare, or to authorize someone else to create, a new version of that work.” You may be able to obtain permission to use a photo for a derivative work from the photographer, or if you’re using a photo library buy the right to use it.

Copyright protection is automatic, and no symbol is required. For Artistic works (such as paintings, drawings, cartoons, sculpture, craft work, photographs, maps and plans), copyright lasts from the time the material is created until 50 years after the year of the creator’s death.

Sources:

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/about/copyright-issues.html

http://painting.about.com/cs/artistscopyright/f/copyrightfaq5.ht
Here is some Interesting Read on Copyright. 

Download the Photographer’s  Rights - http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm

Read The Legal HandBook for Photographers – http://www.krages.com/lhp.htm 

Legal Rights of Photographers in Other Countries

• UK – http://www.sirimo.co.uk/ukpr.php 
• Australia – http://4020.net/words/photorights.php 

JPG Magazine – Photography is not a Crime – http://jpgmag.com/issues/5