Is There a Market for Copies1

Copies have had good and bad times. Considered almost as worthy as originals during the Renaissance, they fell into disrepute in the late 19th Century. However, because of the many functions they exercise (preserving memory, training of young artists, inspiring variations), markets for copies never fully disappeared. In this paper, we survey the reactions of the various actors who were and are at play in the art market–artists, buyers, collectors, lawyers, museums, art histori-ans and art philosophers–, and who contributed to the positive as well as to the negative aspects of copying