Circulation and Control : Artistic Culture and Intellectual Property in the Nineteenth Century

The nineteenth century witnessed a series of revolutions in the production and circulation of images. From lithographs and engraved reproductions of paintings to daguerreotypes, stereoscopic views, and mass-produced sculptures, works of visual art became available in a wider range of media than ever before. But the circulation and reproduction of artworks also raised new questions about the legal rights of painters, sculptors, engravers, photographers, architects, collectors, publishers, and subjects of representation (such as sitters in paintings or photographs). Copyright and patent laws tussled with informal cultural norms and business strategies as individuals and groups attempted to exert some degree of control over these visual creations. With contributions by art historians, legal scholars, historians of publishing, and specialists of painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic arts, this rich collection of essays explores the relationship between intellectual property laws and the cultural, economic, and technological factors that transformed the pictorial landscape during the nineteenth century. This book will be valuable reading for historians of art and visual culture; legal scholars who work on the history of copyright and patent law; and literary scholars and historians who work in the field of book history. It will also resonate with anyone interested in current debates about the circulation and control of images in our digital age--Back of cover Contents Contributor Biographies Acknowledgements 1. Law, Culture, and Industry: Toward a History of Intellectual Property for Visual Works in the Long Nineteenth Century New Visual Media and Artistic Practices Existing Studies and New Lines of Inquiry Structure and Common Themes Bibliography 2. The First Copyright Case under the 1735 Engravings Act: The Germination of Visual Copyright? Introduction The Statutory Background: The Statute of Anne (1710) and the Engravings Act (1735) The Meaning of Invention and Design Who Was Elizabeth Blackwell? Making and Selling A Curious Herbal The Proceedings in Chancery Conclusion Bibliography 3. Who Owns Washington? Gilbert Stuart and the Battle for Artistic Property in the Early American Republic Stuart v. Sword: Controlling Copying in Early Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia Painting as Intellectual Property in Eighteenth-Century London: Art Theory and its Intersection with Artistic and Trade Practices Stuart and the Visual Economy of the Young Republic Bibliography 4. The Scope of Artistic Copyright in Nineteenth-Century England Bibliography Statutes Legal Cases 5. The ‘Death of Chatterton’ Case: Reproductive Engraving, Stereoscopic Photography, and Copyright for Paintings ca. 1860 The Poet and the Painting The Rise of Stereography Photography and tableaux vivants Reproductive Engravings and the Threat of Photography Turner’s Stand on Behalf of Engraving Rights Robinson’s Defense What Constitutes ‘Publication’ of a Painting? Gallery Rules Related to Copying What Constitutes an Illegal Copy? Legal Significance v. Commercial and Cultural Effects Conclusion Bibliography 6. Before an Image Was Worth a Thousand Words: Ben-Hur and Copyright’s Right of Derivatives All the Profits of Publication Which the Book Can, in Any Form, Produce Ben-Hur: My God, Did I Set All of This in Motion? The Masterpiece of the Nineteenth-Century Illustrated It Is a Very Valuable Property Aftermath: Harper v. Kalem and the Logic of Derivative Works Bibliography 7. The Frame Maker/Picture Dealer: A Crucial Intermediary in the Nineteenth-Century American Popular Print Market Philadelphia Frame Makers’ Role in the Print Market ‘Growing Taste for Beauty in Forms and Colors’: Philadelphia Frame Makers and Subscription Art Unions Frame Maker/Picture Dealers, Print Values, and Copyright Conclusion Bibliography 8. Piracy, Copyright, and the Transnational Trade in Illustrations of News in the Mid-Nineteenth Century Trading Visual News, 1842–1860 The Parties The Case Conclusion Bibliography 9. (Re)Assembling Reference Books and Recycling Images: The Wood Engravings of the W. & R. Chambers Firm Sources for Visual Material in Chambers’s Encyclopaedia The Culture of Copying Among Encyclopedia Publishers On-the-Ground Book Production Management How New Illustration Styles Presented the Face of ‘Modernity’ Conclusion Bibliography Appendix 10. Architectural Copyright, Painters and Public Space in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Britain Introduction Building Nineteenth-Century Public Spaces Image-Making and Public Space Architecture and Copyright in the Nineteenth Century Architects and the Society of Arts Copyright Committee Architectural Copyright and the RIBA Copyright Committee Tensions between Painters and Architects Conclusion Bibliography 11. Nineteenth-Century American Sculpture and United States Design Patents Hiram Powers John King and Thomas Ball John Rogers Dayton Morgan Leonard Volk Clark Mills Conclusion Bibliography 12. New or Improved? American Photography and Patents ca. 1840s to 1860s The Smithsonian Institution, the Patent Office and Innovation History The Patents Keeping and Embellishing Photographs Conclusion Bibliography 13. King Tāwhiao’s Photograph: Copyright, Celebrity, and the Commercial Image in Nineteenth-Century New Zealand Blackman v. Monkton Celebrity, Consumers, and the Circulation of Images King Tāwhiao Conclusion Bibliography 14. ‘Photography VS the Press’: Copyright Law and the Rise of the Photographically Illustrated Press Introduction Sales Killers: Halftones and the Business of Professional Photographers American Newspaper Publishers Association v. Photographers’ Copyright League of America: The 1895 Amendment to the Copyright Act Loopholes and Letdowns: Bolles v. Outing Co. (1899) and Falk v. Curtis Publishing Co. (1900) Conclusion Bibliography List of Illustrations Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Index The nineteenth century witnessed a series of revolutions in the production and circulation of images. From lithographs and engraved reproductions of paintings to daguerreotypes, stereoscopic views, and mass-produced sculptures, works of visual art became available in a wider range of media than ever before. But the circulation and reproduction of artworks also raised new questions about the legal rights of painters, sculptors, engravers, photographers, architects, collectors, publishers, and subjects of representation (such as sitters in paintings or photographs). Copyright and patent laws tussled with informal cultural norms and business strategies as individuals and groups attempted to exert some degree of control over these visual creations.0With contributions by art historians, legal scholars, historians of publishing, and specialists of painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic arts, this rich collection of essays explores the relationship between intellectual property laws and the cultural, economic, and technological factors that transformed the pictorial landscape during the nineteenth century.0This book will be valuable reading for historians of art and visual culture; legal scholars who work on the history of copyright and patent law; and literary scholars and historians who work in the field of book history. It will also resonate with anyone interested in current debates about the circulation and control of images in our digital age Intro -- Contents -- Contributor Biographies -- Acknowledgements -- 1. Law, Culture, and Industry: Toward a History of Intellectual Property for Visual Works in the Long Nineteenth Century -- New Visual Media and Artistic Practices -- Existing Studies and New Lines of Inquiry -- Structure and Common Themes -- Bibliography -- 2. The First Copyright Case under the 1735 Engravings Act: The Germination of Visual Copyright? -- Introduction -- The Statutory Background: The Statute of Anne (1710) and the Engravings Act (1735) -- The Meaning of Invention and Design -- Who Was Elizabeth Blackwell?