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Accepted Paper:
Art and Copyright Law: A History of of Originals and Copies
Stina Teilmann-Lock
(University of Southern Denmark)
Paper short abstract:
In this paper it will be argued that copyright law has contributed to the modern formation of the categories and hierarchies of originals and copies in art.
Paper long abstract:
In this paper it will be argued that copyright law has contributed to the modern formation of the categories and hierarchies of originals and copies in art. In support of this argument the paper goes through a series of developments and landmark cases of British and French nineteenth century copyright law making the case that the dynamic reciprocity between the legal and the artistic perceptions of 'originals' and 'copies' has played a major role in shaping our understanding of the concepts in both spheres. Arguably, it is the complicated history of the formation and reception of these concepts —between the spheres of law and art—that accounts for their complex and sometimes paradoxical character. Significantly, originals and copies as concepts handed down to us by legal as well as artistic tradition are antithetically defined. While there is no copy without an original it may be similarly argued that there are no originals without copies.