The information in this guide is intended for informational and education purposes. That means it is not legal advice. If you need legal advice, consider contacting the Ohio Bar Association.
Copyright is meant to protect creators—but it can also create barriers in art, design, and scholarship.
Delays & costs: Getting image permissions can be time-consuming and expensive.
Self-censorship: Many artists and scholars avoid certain topics or projects altogether.
Legal risk: Fear of lawsuits makes individuals and institutions cautious, even when fair use might apply.
Unequal protection: The law favors tangible, "traditional" media (like paintings and books), which disadvantages creators working in performance, digital art, photography, and new media.
“One-third of respondents abandoned or avoided certain kinds of work.”
— College Art Association, 2015
Rogers v. Koons and Prince v. Cariou both ruled against artists for using copyrighted photos in their work, leading to more risk aversion in creative fields.
Moral rights are personal rights that protect your name and your creative integrity—not your income.
In the U.S., moral rights are limited. The main law that applies is the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) of 1990, which grants the following rights to visual artists (during their lifetime):
To be credited as the creator
To prevent false attribution
To prevent your name being used on altered works
To stop your work from being distorted, mutilated, or modified in a way that harms your reputation
Paintings
Drawings
Prints
Sculptures
Limited-edition photographs (made for exhibition)
⚠️ VARA doesn’t cover design, digital work, installations, or mass-produced art.
Also: When you apply a Creative Commons license, you often waive your moral rights. We'll cover that later in this guide.