Ann, in your position I would contact the art student and simply ask for a one-time permission to use the artwork on any and all publications of your book. The artist might be willing to allow that if his/her name is featured, since that could be an opening to future sales of artwork/book covers. You might get a "no" if the artist imagines he/she is losing money, but wouldn't hurt to ask. But get it in writing.

Copyright laws can differ in different countries. US law is not necessarily the same as in the UK (or EU). You might want to check out:

Copyright law of the United Kingdom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyrig...United_Kingdom

Australia http://booksat.scarlettrugers.com/bo...my-book-cover/

You can always get in touch with the official guild/union for UK artists and ask for a copy of the copyright rules. There is no charge for this.

But contracted agreements overrule copyright and if you get a signed agreement from the artist, you are free to use the artwork as your book cover. You have already paid for student art, your request is limited to a single book, the copyright remains with the artist, and (statistically) you will not be making a ton of money on your book.

For these reasons it is not improbable that the art student (or perhaps the artist, no longer student) would regard this as an opportunity to get exposure and possibly a new market niche. Or not. Anyway, it costs nothing to ask.

In a similar vein I'll just add that I recently asked permission to translate work of a Swedish poet, and his estate immediately joined a watchdog organization that guards against unauthorized reproduction of literary works and referred me to them for all future contact. I suppose they had delirious visions of me getting rich on translations of the poems. (I wish.)

This immediately complicated things because I was asking only for permission to translate (which is not just polite but required). I wouldn't dream of paying for the right to translate. As it is, I would be translating for free, though I am accustomed to being paid for commercial translations. In such case, the buyer of my services then owns what I was paid to do.

A translation of a literary work, however, is regarded as a new literary work in its own right. So I'll just move on to some other poet who is willing to allow me to translate their work and get some international exposure.

While copyright law can vary from one country to another, Janice, that's scarcely a relevant observation in the current context given that the link I provided is from the Intellectual Property Office of the UK, which directly and simply answers the question that Ann asked.

Oh dear. I did not notice the underlining so did not click on that wee "here". For all toes inadvertently, irrelevantly and irreverently trod on, I am most abjectly sorry.

Hi Ann,

The artist will, without any doubt whatsoever, enthusiastically endorse your using the picture on a book cover. It's just the way artists roll.

Cultural note: My criteria, if and when asked for art--Do NOT place any print or anything else over the image. And if you use a detail rather than the full image, you must, in the credit, specify "detail". Also, be sure to use a high resolution image of the work, otherwise it will pixilate. It all sounds obvious, except for maybe the first point. I think most artists are averse to copy running over their work.

Excellent idea to use original art that you own on a book cover!

Rick

Toes, Janice? What toes? Mine are fine. It's OK.

And Rick - your reply is the last piece of the "puzzle" - an artist's view. Thank you for that.

Think about it like this...I buy a book of Ann Drysdale poetry. I own this book. I own these poems...or do I? Can I now go out and use the poems on greeting cards? If the artist took a picture of her painting, she does have the right to use it.

It's not always about money. It can be about being able to say no when someone wants to use the art on something they don't want to endorse.

It's not necessary to make a big deal about it. Just contact her and ask - "May I use your art on my book?"
If I were the artist I would be thrilled but I might ask for a few copies and the right to use photos of the book in my own promotions. She may want to be credited or have some say-so about how it's cropped. BUT if it's not complicated enough, the photographers have some copyrights too.

since you did not make the painting it is not your work even though you possess the physical painting. You need to get permission for its use on a cover or in any other print media (maybe even online media) and of course to give credit where credit is due - speaking as both a poet and a painter

Do we say that painters and sculptors "publish" their works?
 

There's a simple workaround: take your painting to a public place and snap a photo of it.

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/copy/c-o...-exception.htm

"Also, it is not an infringement of the copyright in a work if you draw, take a photograph or make a film of, buildings or sculptures or works of artistic craftsmanship which are located in a public places or in premises open to the public and copyright is not infringed in any material when it is used in legal proceedings."

Personally, I think there should be a distinction between unique works (e.g. paintings and sculptures) as opposed to duplicated ones (e.g. prototypes, books, movies, prints, mass produced figurines, etc.) but, as others have pointed out, there doesn't seem to be.

-o-

That is correct. You could probably take a photo of yourself in your living room and the painting be on the wall, but why deprive the artist of the pleasure and joy? I would be dancing around the room and calling everyone I know if my work was going to be a book cover. This is a huge compliment, especially that you wrote a poem inspired by this work. Spread the joy.

This is not a loophole.

Publishing said photograph is what constitutes the infringement. You can draw or photograph an artwork in any private or public place (unless the museum says otherwise and some do) and show it to friends, but you cannot publish it as a book cover or similar. Unless of course, as I said earlier, you have an agreement (preferably written) with the artist.