If you use the painting to make the cover of your book and as such it helps to sell your book, you are using someone else's work for profit without their permission. If you take a picture of the painting and use it as your Christmas card - just sending it to friends and family - it would not be of much note (though you should still give credit)
The artist owns the work, it is copyrighted even if a copyright was never applied for. You need to contact the artist and get permission. I would bet you any money she/he will be thrilled (unless of course they have gone on to do much more and better work and do not want that painting out there to represent them) Like if someone took an old poem of yours that you had just sent them and never intended to publish but they put it on their blog and attributed it to you but it is so not what you now do and you never intended it to see the light of day.
It's complicated, but bottom line is you need to ask the artist. It's the right thing to do.
Last edited by Cyn Neely; 06-27-2014 at 03:59 AM.
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