Photos of my sculptures.

[woodso]

Hi, I'm new to this, and am confused about art images - it seems artwork images can only be put up as stock if they are in some other context, but can't i put up my images of my own sculptures?

Thanks Andrew.

[Robert M Estall]

Sculpture is pretty well its own category. Because lighting and angle of view are always different, it is generally accepted that a new copyright is created every time a photo of a sculpture is created. So if I took a photo of your sculpture, I would likely own the copyright of that image (do I hear a howl of outrage?) So, don't let me grab a snap of your sculpture! Pottery would usually be regarded as sculpture for this purpose.

 

If you purchased one of my wife's fine paintings, you would not be at liberty to photograph it and put it on Alamy unless she specifically assigned the copyright to you. In that kind of case, the artist owns the copyright, the owner of the painting does not. If you hung the painting in your sitting room and took a photo as part of the decoration, preferably with some extra content such as people or carpets and  furniture then you should be safe enough either with Alamy or any copyright disputes.

[spacecadet]

I think Robert is correct at least as far as UK copyright law is concerned (most EU countries are similar) as there's a specific exemption- photographing a sculpture in public does not infringe its copyright. S62 CDPA.

So you don't need a release for anyone's sculpture, never mind your own, unless as David says you want it to be licensable for commercial uses.

[woodso]

Thanks people - very comprehensive and helpful!