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I have a book from the 70s which contains some images of art from museums that I'd like to use on an online article for the purposes of discussion/education.

For a more concrete example, imagine talking about a specific type of art such as Ancient Greek sculptures, and taking a dozen photos from various textbooks of Ancient Greek sculptures to discuss.

What are the issues around this?

Alexis Drakopoulos
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Someone owns the copyright in the photos

Ancient Greek art is not subject to copyright because a) there was no copyright law in Ancient Greece and b) even if there were, the works have long since entered the public domain.

However, photographs of art (or anything else) have their own copyright and ones dating from the 1970s will not enter the public domain for many, many years.

Since you are publishing this online, technically you must comply with copyright law in every jurisdiction where this can be accessed. While you may be able to successfully argue fair use in the United States, this is not fair dealing or similar provisions in other jurisdictions.

To be safe:

  • Get permission from the copyright holder (their name should be in the book);
  • Use public domain photos from a different source; or
  • Go to the museum and take your own photos.
Dale M
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  • Thanks, sadly the copyright holder died last year. – Alexis Drakopoulos Dec 29 '23 at 07:49
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    If I modify the images enough it should be new work right? For example an image of a pot with some art on it, and I recreate that art as a separate image. – Alexis Drakopoulos Dec 29 '23 at 07:50
  • @AlexisDrakopoulos why on Earth do you think your art isn’t a derivative of the photo? – Dale M Dec 29 '23 at 09:38
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    Because it's derivative of the contents of the photo. If you take a photo of a black cat, and I then draw a black cat, is that derivative of your photo? – Alexis Drakopoulos Dec 30 '23 at 10:08
  • @AlexisDrakopoulos maybe, maybe not. If my photo is of Felix the Cat, then probably yes. The question is: is your drawing sufficiently like my photo that it is a derivative of rather than inspired by. – Dale M Dec 30 '23 at 21:09