Q: Can a person take credit for, promote, and sell paintings as the artist, if a real painter painted their ideas for them?
Can a person take credit for, promote, and sell paintings as the artist, if a real painter painted their ideas for them?
I know a person, I will call him John (not his real name), that promotes himself as a painter but is not one. John takes ideas people gave to him thinking he is a painter to make for them. After they pay John, he pockets most of the money and pays a painter the remainder of the money to paint the drawing onto a canvas. John then delivers the painting to the customer who thinks that John is the artist that made the painting. He will also draw things himself that he will have a painter paint onto a canvas, and then post the art online for sale taking credit as the painter.
The seems like fraud to me. Is there anything the law can do to stop it?
A: Sounds like fraud. Did the "real artist" sign the work? If the works represent someone else's ideas, it sounds like a joint collaboration. More details would be necessary, and probably an inspection of the actual works. Consult an intellectual property attorney.
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