Donald is an artist – he creates both sculptures and oil
paintings. One of his paintings – he named it “Sex in the Country”
– showed a farm setting, with several farm animals apparently
engaged in sexual intercourse. He recently sold this painting for
$50,000 through a local art gallery, to a wealthy art collector
(Richard). Once Richard had possession of the painting, he took
photographs of the painting, and had thousands of posters created
using the photographs of the painting. Richard is now selling these
posters in hundreds of art galleries all across the US, with an
estimated total sales of $1 million or more for this year
alone!
a. Donald has a valid legal claim against Richard for Copyright
violation.
b. Donald has a valid legal claim against Richard for Patent
violation.
c. Richard has the legal right to sell these posters, as he is now the owner of the painting, and he created the photographs of Donald’s painting to use on the posters.
Richard has legally bought the painting, Sex in the Country, from Donald for $50,000. He is now the legal owner of the painting. Also, he has the copyright over the painting to use whatever way he wants. Hence, he can create as many posters as he wants of the painting and can sell those posters across the US. Donald has no right over the painting and he cannot stop Richard from copying it into posters and selling it further. Therefore, the correct option is (c).
Donald is an artist – he creates both sculptures and oil paintings. One of his paintings...
The renowned Spaniard, Pablo Picasso, was a prolific artist. He created hundreds of paintings and sculptures as well as drawings and sketches numbering in the thousands. (He is said to have settled restaurant bills by producing sketches on the spot.) a. What effect does the existence of this large body of work have on the monetary value of individual pieces of his art? b. Might his heirs suffer from being bequeathed too many of his works? As the heirs’ financial...