Business of Scanning Art and reselling

Dan Boardman , Jul 11, 2004; 12:14 p.m.

This may be in the wrong forum - forgive me if it is - at any rate here is an idea I have had for a while (it is only an idea at this point) I have some technical questions and some legal questions - first the idea in general:

IDEA: Buy original paintings (NOT PHOTOGRAPHS) of watercolors, oils, acrylics and etc.- scan them on a high resolution scanner and sell limited editions of this art in various sizes as wanted/dictated by a customer:

BACKGROUND: the idea was born several years ago at an art fair my wife and I attended - one of the artists had 3 or 4 different sizes of an original paintings she had done - we wanted a particular size of one but she didn't have it - she told us she could have it scanned and made - we would have to pay for the scanning and this newly sized print. We thought why don't WE buy the original (which she had for sale) and have it scanned and printed in the size we wanted?

QUESTIONS: first if we owned the original are we able to resell/resize, as we want? Are any special releases needed from the artist if we wanted to scan and reprint and RESELL to others?

FURTHER QUESTIONS: what scanner's/printer's would be recommended (I have a pretty good idea on the printer) The best possible resolution would be wanted as well as the largest sizes for both printing and scanning - perhaps several printers/scanners would be desirable depending on size wanted?

I apologize if this is not the appropriate place for this post AND let me be perfectly clear I DO NOT WANT to violate any rights of any artists so maybe before this question even gets off the ground from a technical aspect, it should/could be shot down for legal reason's - I invite your thought's.

Responses

1 | 2 | 3 Next Last

Bert Krages , Jul 11, 2004; 12:21 p.m.

From the legal prespective, doing this without the artist's permission would be blatant copyright infringement of the worst kind. Ownership of the original does not give you the legal right to copy the work. To address the copyright issue, you either need to get the artist's express permission to make the copies or else get the artist to assign the copyright to you.

Steven Clark , Jul 11, 2004; 12:22 p.m.

Actually I think it's still a break of copyright unless you get specific permission.

Eric ~ , Jul 11, 2004; 12:25 p.m.

You can't be serious.

Keith Laban , Jul 11, 2004; 12:26 p.m.

Keith Laban Photography

The copyright should belong to the artist.

Steve Hovland , Jul 11, 2004; 12:56 p.m.

Many artists do this for themselves.

Rich 815 , Jul 11, 2004; 01:10 p.m.

If you buy the complete and exclusive rights to that ONE particular piece of art I imagine you could do this. But be prepared to pay a LOAD more for the picture.

BW Combs , Jul 11, 2004; 02:19 p.m.

True, ownership of the original does not allow you the right to copy and sell the work. However, you may enter into an agreement with the original artist to do so. Usually this involves a fee (either fixed or per print sold) that would be paid to the artist. Reproduction can be in the form of a full-size giclee print that might sell for thousands of dollars apiece, to note cards of the image(s) selling for a few dollars. There is additional value added if the artist participates in signing each print or copy.

It's not cheap to get into this business. Negotiating rights, prepress and press costs, distributing and marketing costs all add up. But it can be done. Good luck.

Kelly Flanigan , Jul 11, 2004; 02:37 p.m.

Wait to you get the teenagers; kids's mom's; wanting Britney Posters from Walmart "copied"; since "it is cheaper to make a copy; then buy another for 6 bucks">

The idea of scanning old art; posters; is over a decade old. I think Blair Graphics in Santa Monica had a 4x5 digital back in 1995 or 1996; They were scanning old movie posters.

You are setting yourself up to be sued; if making illegal copies of other folks artwork.

Here I use a 35 megapixel digital back; on a 4x5 camera; it makes a nice image; but is slow. Consider the return on investment; on a settu that cost as much as a car; and the rework pleasing colorblind clients.

Plan on turning down alot of illegal work.

Many weird artists paints in the blue and purple colors are hard the copy; sometime we must creat a layer; and locally crop out and correct the blue/purples.

Artists are hard to deal with; seem to never have any money; and want you to always do something for their cause. How many free jobs do you want to do; and still pay for the scanner and light bills?.

Dan Boardman , Jul 11, 2004; 07:41 p.m.

Actually in the first example the ARTIST herself suggested we buy the print and copy it to the size we wanted.

1 | 2 | 3 Next Last

Notify me of Responses