Where Artists’ Copyright Meets Commerce, Things Get Messy

“Even if a painting (or drawing or photograph) has been sold to a collector or a museum, in general, the artist or his heirs retain control of the original image for 70 years after the artist’s death. … If someone wants to reproduce the painting – on a Web site, a calendar, a T-shirt, or in a film – it is the estate that must give its permission, not the museum.” Issues arise everywhere from Google Art Project to the 3-D re-release of Titanic.