Copyright on old art question?

I want to make t-shirts using the artwork from the Roman Empire era. Of course, the original art is "owned" by a museum, but I found photographs of the art in an art book. Can I photograph the pages from this book and go forward with my shirts, since the original artist is long gone? Does the author of the book have protection from my photographing his photographs, even though the art work the author photographed is copyright-free??

Copyright on old art question?
You legally can.. because it is outdated. Same applies to classical music from that era.
Reply:The person who took the photograph in the book would own the copyright to the image, even though the object in the photo is not protected by copyright. There are two objects here - the object in the photo (public domain) and the photograph of that object (copyrighted). If you go ahead with your plan, the photographer would definitely be able to sue you for copyright infringement.
Reply:The photographer would have a copyright in the pictures of the art. You would have to take your own pictures to use them on shirts. You could also see if you could negotiate a license to use the pictures on t-shirts.





Good luck,


Dana (attorney)