How exactly did Leonardo Da Vinci influence art in general?

What are copyright practices or limitation with regards to art paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci, Rafael, etc.?

• I am in the printing business but it is just now that I am learning my rights or non-rights as far as printing artworks of Da Vinci, Rafael, Botticeli, etc. If anyone knows, please enlighten me. Thanks

• Answer:

  ** Note: This answer is based on US law. ** I'm not sure whether you're asking about what rights you have to use images of public domain paintings by Leonardo, Botticelli, etc., or what rights you can claim in your prints, but here goes. In the most recent US legal decision concerning reproductions of public domain art, a New York district court decided that photographs of public domain paintings are also in the public domain. The court reasoned that because the purpose of such photographs is to reproduce the art as faithfully as possible, there is no originality -- so they aren't eligible for copyright protection. For a reproduction of a public domain work to be copyrightable, it can't be a "slavish copy" of the original. (But be aware that other courts might disagree. A district court decision doesn't affect the entire US.) The reasoning of this case would apply to your prints, too, as long as they reproduce the original artworks as faithfully as possible. Last, you don't mention where you're getting the images for your printing business. Questions of copyright aside, if you purchase photos of these public domain works from museums, your use is probably subject to a license agreement. Whether such licenses are enforceable is far from clear, however. Hope this helps a bit.