Copyright
Barbara Romain's paintings, prints, ceramics, murals and writings are protected by copyright, and that copyright is owned by the Estate of Barbara Romain. Buying a work does not transfer it. Share her work freely with credit; ask us before you sell, license, print or train anything on it.
What the estate owns
Copyright in every work Barbara Romain made — paintings, works on paper, ceramics, murals, prints, digital works, photographs of her work, and her written statements and correspondence — belongs to the Estate of Barbara Romain.
Barbara died in 2024. Under current United States law her copyright runs for her lifetime plus seventy years, which places her work under protection through 2094.
This site's contents are also protected: the photography, the artwork descriptions, the catalogue and exhibition records, the curriculum vitae, and the research and dossier text published here.
Buying a work does not buy the copyright
When you buy a painting, a print, an Estate Edition or a ceramic, you own that physical object. You may keep it, display it in your home or business, lend it, resell it, gift it or bequeath it.
You do not acquire the copyright, and no reproduction rights transfer with the sale. Photographing your own piece for personal use is fine. Reproducing it commercially is not.
This is not a policy the estate invented — it is how copyright works everywhere, and it is why an artist's estate can still control an image after every canvas has been sold.
What you may do without asking
The estate would rather Barbara's work were seen than policed. You do not need permission to:
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Share images of her work on social media, in a blog post, or in a newsletter, with credit
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Reproduce an image in press coverage, criticism, review or scholarship, with credit
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Use her work in teaching and classroom materials
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Link to any page on this site
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Photograph a work you own for your own records, insurance or enjoyment
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Photograph her public murals as they appear in the street
Please credit her like this:
Barbara Romain, Title, Year. © Estate of Barbara Romain. Courtesy of the Estate of Barbara Romain.
Where space is tight:
© Estate of Barbara Romain.
4. What needs our permission
Please write to us before you:
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Reproduce her work on anything offered for sale — prints, apparel, homeware, packaging, stationery, puzzles
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License an image for advertising, film, television, publishing or album artwork
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Make a derivative work — a collage, remix, adaptation, tattoo design or three-dimensional rendering
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Mint, tokenise or issue her work as a digital asset
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Reproduce a work as a full-page or cover image in a book or catalogue
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Use her name, signature or the estate's marks in a way that suggests she or the estate endorses a product
We say yes more often than you would expect, and permission is usually free for non-commercial and editorial use. art@barbararomain.com
Text and data mining, and AI training
The Estate of Barbara Romain expressly reserves all rights in Barbara Romain's works and in the contents of this site against text and data mining, web scraping, and the development, training, fine-tuning or evaluation of artificial intelligence or machine-learning systems.
This reservation applies to automated as well as manual collection, and is made for the purposes of Article 4(3) of EU Directive 2019/790 and any equivalent provision in other jurisdictions. No licence for these uses is granted by the availability of this site, and none should be inferred.
Anyone wishing to use her work for machine-learning purposes must obtain a written licence from the estate first. Requests are read, not ignored: art@barbararomain.com
Reporting infringement
If you see Barbara Romain's work being sold, reproduced or licensed without permission, please tell us. Collectors and readers find far more of it than we ever could.
Write to art@barbararomain.com with a link or photograph, where you saw it, and the date. You do not need to be certain — we would rather check ten and find one.
If you believe material published on this site infringes your own copyright, write to the same address with a description of the work, where it appears on this site, your contact details, and a statement of your good-faith belief that the use is unauthorised. We will review it promptly and remove or credit the material where appropriate.
Works in other collections
Some of Barbara's work is held by museums, hospitals, institutions and private collectors. The estate holds copyright in those works even where it does not own the object, and those collections hold their own rights in their own photography.
If you need an image of a work in an institutional collection, you will usually need permission from both the estate and the holding institution. We are glad to help you identify whom to ask.
Contact
Estate of Barbara Romain art@barbararomain.com · www.barbararomain.com