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

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. Yet
nearly 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 those
works? 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?

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

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