Works of fine art are protected from the moment of their creation by author’s rights. This is a particular field of the broader term of intellectual property rights. Following EU legislation works of art are protected during lifetime of the author and 70 years after his or her death. Author and heirs benefit from patrimonial and moral rights.
The rights of authors are protected by national legislation and by International Treaties, in particular the Berne Convention, administered by WIPO, that has at present 156 member countries world-wide. For the particular rights in the Information society there are the two WIPO Treaties WCT and WPPT since 1996.
Rights involved in uses on web sites are regularly the right to scan, digitise and store a reproduction of a work, the right of communication to the public and the right of making available. Besides, moral rights of authors might be affected. In any case, it is OnLineArt’s business to provide you with a rights package tailored for your project.
If you are not certain whether the work of an artist is still protect or not you can contact OnLineArt or one of our members for legal advice.