copyright info for artists

[MelissitaF]

What is the name of your state? Ohio

Hello, I am an artist who makes small assemblage pieces- something like collage; I take wooden plaques, boxes, and frames and paint, decorate etc their surfaces, and put an image of a famous or not so famous work of art or photo in the frame or on the box with the artist's name usually appearing on the piece.
Am I infringing on the copyrights of these artists?

Thanks for any help! Melissa

 

[divgradcurl]

Am I infringing on the copyrights of these artists?

Maybe. This is one of those areas where it is difficult to make a definitive statement. If you purchased the works of art or photos legally, then, under the "first sale" doctrine, you should be able to do whatever you want with those particular copies, including reselling them. The question is whether or not affixing the pictures to another object is simply reselling the picture, or is creating a derivative work -- creating a derivative work would be a violation of copyright. There is a fairly famous case (for copyright lawyers, at least) dealing with affixing pictures to tiles and reselling them, but I can't remember the name of the case or what it determined! If I remember, I'll post later.

Anyway, so the answer is maybe. If you are going to be trying to make a living at this, it may be worthwhile to talk with a lawyer.

Finally, the artist's name being visible or not is irrelevant from a copyright perspective. Also, if you are not buying the pictures or artwork, but are instead making your own copies, or downloading them from the Internet, etc, then that would certainly be a copyright violation.