Who Owns This Image?

Who Owns This Image?
Art, Access, and the Public Domain after Bridgeman v. Corel
Public Panel Discussion

Cosponsored by:
Art Law Committee, New York City Bar Association
College Art Association
ARTstor
Creative Commons

Panelists:
Dr. Theodore Feder, President, Art Resource, Artists Rights Society
Christopher Lyon, Executive Editor, Prestel Publishing
William Patry, Senior Copyright Counsel, Google
Hon. Richard A. Posner, United States Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit
Maureen Whalen, Associate General Counsel, J. Paul Getty Trust

Moderator:
Virginia Rutledge, Chair, Art Law Committee, New York City Bar
Association; Vice President and General Counsel, Creative Commons

When: Tuesday, April 29, 2008, 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Where: The Great Hall, New York City Bar Association, 42 W. 44th Street, New York City

Who owns the Mona Lisa? In Bridgeman Art Library Ltd. v. Corel Corp.  (S.D.N.Y. 1999), Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ruled that exact photographic  copies of two-dimensional public domain works of art are not  copyrightable under U.S. law, because such images are not original.  Yetnearly a decade after that decision, copyright in many such images  continues to be asserted.

This program addresses questions currently debated across the  worlds of  art, publishing, and the law:

Should access to public domain artworks control uses of images of  thoseworks? When and how should custodians of public domain  artworks exercise  control over reproductions of them? How does contract intersect with  copyright in the control of image uses? Does the image permissions  hurdle play a role in the decline of art publishing, or are the  complaints of critics overwrought? What is the nature of the public  domain with respect to works of art?

This program is free and open to the public; no reservation required.  Seating is limited.