Legal Advice on UK Copyright Position Hi here is some legal advice I got here in the UK regarding copyright from a UK Barrister Senior Lawyer There is no current UK court ruling that says that copyright exists in the photograph of an out of copyright painting It all depends on whether the person who took the photograph of the painting made an original contribution if yes they may be able to claim a copyright in the photograph If no original contribution no copyright Originality has not been defined in the Copyright Designs and Patents Act and is open for the courts to interpret on a case by case basis However there is UK case law which has established that a mechanical photocopy of an original work is not copyrighted Reject Shop Vs Manners 1995 and in the case of Interlego A G vs Tyco Industries 1989 it was held that that a drawing which was a copy of another drawing did not hold its own copyright Skill labour or judgement merely in the process of copying can not confer originality said the court in this case So it would seem that Farrer are bluffing there is no precedent that supports their position but there are precedents in your favour I very much doubt if they or any other UK gallery would want to take a case to court because the chances are they would lose The only thing stopping people now from scanning images from books postcards and posters is either a mistaken belief that it is illegal or fear that it may be judged to be so Left on 19th July 2009 bhy Jimbodiddly Preceding unsigned comment added by