Fotografie di opere d’arte: tra titolarità, pubblico dominio, diritti di riproduzione, privacy

This paper deals with the rights involved in the use and dissemination of images reproducing works of art, particularly those that have fallen into the public domain (PDM). In the reproduction of a work of art, two are the lines to be considered: the work of art, which may fall under public domain or to be still subject to copyright protection, and photography as work which may, on the other hand, be subject to rights of various kinds . For the Italian laws, photographic work, in order to come back to the field of protection, must be creative and not a mere reproduction of a real world. In the digital environment, numerous versions of images of the same artwork in different formats are without copyright note and can create confusion. The protection of cultural heritage laws can undermine the free circulation and enjoyment of images of works even though they fall into the public domain. Some foreign museums have restrictive rules regarding reproduction of the works they own and obtain reproduction require payment of differentiated reproduction rights for publication, dissemination in print or on the web, distribution field etc. Reproduction rights management is often given to stewards of the photographic agencies that rely on pay-per-view networks and databases, which are concerned with issuing licenses for purposes and uses. However, there are numerous cultural institutions, libraries, archives and museums that have open policies or have joined in innovative projects. In Italy, the ArtBonus Decree of June 2014 goes in this direction thanks to some important openings such as the liberalization of photographic shots in museums for non-profit purposes