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Re:Is Mark Twain's 100-year-old+ autobiography covered by co... by splat on Saturday October 23, 2010 @03:06PM (#1824140)
I've wondered about things like this. I once bought a print from the Getty Museum of a painting by Gerrit Dou (done in the late 1650s), and the Getty had a copyright notice on the back. Obviously anyone can reproduce the original, but is the Getty trying to claim that no one can make reproductions of their reproduction?
Re:Is Mark Twain's 100-year-old+ autobiography covered by co... by starkness on Saturday October 23, 2010 @03:34PM (#1824193)
There is actually a debate as to whether photographs of paintings in the public domain can be copyrighted. The current consensus in the US appears to be no. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgeman_Art_Library_v._Corel_....

If it was a print of the painting, it would depend upon whether a court would construe that it had sufficient originality to be a derivative work. But that wouldn't stop Getty from trying to assert copyright.

Re:Is Mark Twain's 100-year-old+ autobiography covered by co... by ig1 on Saturday October 23, 2010 @03:32PM (#1824192)
Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp. is normally regarded as the definitive answer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgeman_Art_Library_v._Corel_....

Re:Is Mark Twain's 100-year-old+ autobiography covered by co... by Someone on Sunday October 24, 2010 @07:15AM (#1825849)
I would guess that, if you tried, you would discover that that 'anyone can reproduce the original' is not quite true. For example, the Getty site says:

Handheld and video cameras using existing light are welcome in the permanent collection galleries. Please check at the entrance of the changing exhibitions for any restrictions in those galleries. Flash photography, tripods, and monopods are not permitted.

Those limitations make making a good reproduction a challenge.

As to your question: they are probably asserting the copyright on the photograph itself, not on what it depicts. That is perfectly OK. If that weren't possible, press photographers would have a hard time making a living.