Artistic works range from paintings, drawings, engraving and craftsmanship. It also encompasses architecture and photographs to some extent. Like any other entities in copyright, an art too must be an original work to be protected by the copyright act. The art is protected for a lifetime. The Berne convention states that two generations of the artist should benefit from the copyright of a predecessor. In India once the author of the arctic work is dead, the copyright will expire after 60 years from his death in India. The artist is the first owner of the art which he produces unless he is contractually bound for an employer, mainly newspaper magazines or studios.

Here are some of the privileges that the author of the artistic work enjoys-

• Only the author of the work has the right to reproduce the work in any manner or form he wants to.
• If the work is yet to be published, he is the only one who has the authority to publish it.
• He has the right to authorize the use of the art in cinema or in cinema halls.
• Making further adaptation of work

There are very little exceptions to the rule. For example, if the art is shown incidentally in a movie, it is exempted from the act. In those cases where the art is transfixed at a particular place and that place gets recorded in a movie or show, the artist cannot claim copyright infringement. In a few countries, the Copyright Act prevents the auction houses from using the copies of art to advertise for sale. Before doing so, the auction house must seek the permission of the owner of the art. However, this clause is prevalent only in a select few countries.

The originality of an artistic work is the only criteria for obtaining copyright for artistic work. The applicant must make sure that his work is an original one and is not copied from anywhere else.

Following are the documents required for an artistic work-

• NOC declaration of an artist
• NOC of the publisher
• NOC from Trademark department

The copyright registration process for an artistic work is a long one, and it involves a lot of legal requirements. However, all of that can be compressed into the following points:

• Perform a copyright registration search to see if the artistic work of the same name, content and nature is already copyrighted
• File the application for copyright registration along with a copy of the work you want to copyright.
• Wait for the copyrighted material to be published
• It shall stay in the journal for a while.

Once you get the copyright registration, the benefits come then. However, the time it takes for the process to be completed can take even years.

We, at BIAT Legal LLP provide end to end solutions for Artistic Work/Painting Copyright. Our services include:

• Collection of information and starting the process
• Drafting the application
• Reviewing the draft and making changes if necessary
• Filing the application of Artistic Work/Painting Copyright

BIAT Legal LLP is a leading Intellectual Property firm providing the comprehensive services relating to Artistic Work/Painting Copyright.

Contact us to get copyright of an Artistic Work.