[Upd-discuss] software/intellectual property, portraits and hollywood

[Rob Myers]

On 13 Jul 2006, at 06:12, Mashilamani Sambasivam wrote:

> 2. A portrait by klimt goes for record price
> of 135 million dollars.
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5093650.stm
> Is a portrait intellectual property?

A painted canvas is very much physical property. The reproducable  
image expressed on the canvas is covered by copyright.  There are  
many snake-oil salesmen trying to convince artists to cash out of  
tens of thousands of years of art history by getting precious about  
the copyrights on canvasses they have already sold. They need to be  
run out of town.

- Rob.