Copyright FAQ: What about Paintings Made from Old Masters or How-To books?
Copyright FAQ: What about Paintings Made from Old Masters or How-To books?Answer: It’s a long-standing tradition to paint from the Old Masters, but you should not try to pass these off as your own paintings. Similarly, ‘how-to’ books are there to help you develop your own skills, not to enable you to pass off the finished picture as your own original creation (afterall, you’ve copied someone else’s composition and techniques). Make a note on the back of these paintings to remind yourself of the origins / influences. (Write on the actual canvas, not the stretching frame, so it never gets separated.) Remember, just because a painter has been dead for many years doesn’t automatically mean that their work is out of copyright; it may still be owned by a gallery or the artist’s estate. Check the copyright situation, don’t assume. If you’ve made a painting in the style of another painter, add a note saying “After Rothko” (or whoever) to acknowledge that it’s done in that’s artist’s characteri
