I am interested in selling reproductions of some fairly famous
twentieth century paintings, but I'm not sure about the copyright
status of some of these works.  I am aware that copyright infringement
and distribution for profit is now considered a felony in some cases. 
What is the best way of discovering the status of these works, and how
could I proceed from there, if they are protected under copyright?

Hi, Slowdog:

Since you're talking about reproductions of "fairly famous twentieth
century paintings", it is a good idea to search for copyright
information before you go about doing that.

The U.S. Copyright Office has a searchable online database for
copyright recordings from 1978 to present. For searches prior to 1978,
the Copyright Office offers this information:

"A search of registrations, renewals, and recorded transfers of
ownership made before 1978 requires a manual search of our files. Upon
request, our staff will search our records at the statutory rate of
$75 for each hour."
  - http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-services.html

In addition, here is no fee if you conduct a search in person at the
Copyright Office which is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. eastern
time, Monday through Friday.

The Copyright Office recommends the use of Circular 22, How to
Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work, and Circular 23, Copyright
Card Catalog and the Online File.

Circular 22 is online here:
 - http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ22.html

and Circular 23 is online here:
 - http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ23.html

The online search for works of art can be found here:
 - http://www.copyright.gov/records/cohm.html


If you're not so inclined to wade through the records, which can
include transfer of copyrights, renewal of copyrights, etc., you can
hire specialists who will search copyright information for you.

Here's a list of a couple of the copyright search organizations (I am
familiar with Law Mart and know they do a thorough job and can deliver
the information within five days):

* Law Mart
  - http://www.lawmart.com/

* Legal Name Com
  - http://www.legalname.com/

A copyright search will also reveal the date a copyright will fall
into the public domain.


Search terms:
 - U S Copyright Office
 - copyright information
 - copyright search


Good luck in your new venture,
Serenata

---

Request for Answer Clarification by slowdog-ga on 06 Jun 2003 17:33 PDT

Hi! Thanks for being so prompt and informative.  I would like to add
something to my question, but I don't know quite how to go about
raising the price a little to make it worth your while.  In any case,
if I want to alter the composition of a painting enough to avoid
copyright infringement, what percentage of change might be required? 
Are there any other loopholes besides this one?

---

Clarification of Answer by serenata-ga on 06 Jun 2003 17:48 PDT

Hi, Slowdog ...

Once you have rated a question, you've closed it out.

The best way to get that answer is to submit another question. If
there is a particular Google Answer Researcher you'd like to ask for,
you can indicate that in the Subject line or within the body of your
question.

Thank you for your generous tip.

Serenata

This is the first experience with google answers and I'm very pleased.

I'm not sure what Google's policy on this so I don't intend this to be
a politically charged comment. It does pertain to the subject of older
copyrights. I think that someone in your business would be interested
in the proposed Eric Eldred Act.

The proposed act:
http://www.eldred.cc/eablog/EldredActOnePage5.htm

The home page of Eric Eldred:
http://eldred.cc/

A slashdot discussion on the subject:
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/06/03/1641229

(I apologize if my post is out of context.)

Thanks for the info!

First, a disclaimer:
I'm an intellectual property attorney, but in no case does this
constitute legal advice, just some general information for
hypothetical purposes.


You might be interested in this case (related to the other comment):
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/works/lessig/eldred/us_resp/us.doc.html>
Eldred v. Reno (D.C. Court of Appeals).

I thought I'd add in also some rules of thumb:
1) The Copyright Act of 1909 had a 28-year original term (after
registering the copyright and putting in the copyright notice in the
original work), renewable for up to a maximum of 28 years
additionally.
2) The Copyright Act of 1976 now has a term of life of the author plus
70 years (due to the Berne Convention treaty).  This is the current
copyright act and it was effective for any work created from January
1, 1978 up until the present time.

Therefore, if you have a general idea as to when the painting was
created, you might have an idea as to whether the work is still
protected under the relevant Copyright Act.

Which copyright act applies depends upon when the work was created
(for the 1976 Act) or registered & notice put on the work (for the
1909 Act).

As of the Copyright Act of 1976, notice on a work is optional as is
the need to register a work. When the author creates an original work
in tangible medium, he automatically has a copyright.  However, a
registered copyright is required in order for the author (or
transferee) to be able to sue for copyright infringement.  Also,
notice of the copyright is always a good thing to do (as a business
matter and otherwise) just to put potential infringers and others on
notice that the work is protected by the Copyright Act.