OLD PAINTINGS = PUBLIC DOMAIN

e the laws for old artwork in h: Im just wondering what ar ssary the necessary copyright? Dear Ric ld nece which no existing estate may ho t allowed to use an image of the Mona sn Ive heard that Dan Brown wa hout paying the Louvre a hefty fee. In my Lisa for The Da Vinci Code wit ce of Venus from Botticellis painting case, Im looking to use the fa my self-published fiction books, and I The Birth Of Venus for one ofd to legally do that, or would I be was wondering if Id be allowegallery in Florence to ask permission? required to contact the Uffizi

Yes, you can use Botticelli's Birth of Venus . Museums have argued for years that their photographs of those paintings were protected under copyright, thus enabling them to control everything from postcard sales to artbook licensing. That ended in 1999 when a court ruled that "slavish reproductions" of visual works in the public domain are not copyrightable.

Foot fetishistS are free to copy just the feet

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