Commissioning a portrait is one of the few purchases where two properties change hands while only one of them is actually sold. The canvas on the wall is yours without conditions. The image on that canvas is a different legal animal, and the rules that govern it are simpler than most buyers fear — provided you know which questions to ask, and when to ask them.
The painting and the image are two different properties
Copyright attaches automatically the moment an original work is fixed — here, when the painter has rendered the likeness on canvas. In the United States, the Copyright Act of 1976 places authorship with the person who created the work: the painter, not the person who paid for it. Section 202 draws the line precisely: transferring ownership of a physical object — the canvas, the frame, the certificate — does not carry the copyright with it. Any transfer of the rights themselves must be made in writing and signed. The UK’s Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 works the same way, and so does the law across the EU. None of this is exotic: it is the same default that means a wedding photographer owns the negatives even though you paid for the shoot. In practice it splits your new painting in two. The object you own outright — hang it, ship it, resell it, insure it, leave it to your grandchildren. The image stays with the studio unless something is written down that says otherwise.
Why “work for hire” almost never covers a portrait
Buyers sometimes assume that paying for a work means owning it completely — that a commission is “work made for hire”. In the US that doctrine exists in two narrow lanes: employees creating work within their job, and one of nine specifically listed categories of specially ordered work — contributions to collective works, parts of a motion picture, translations, compilations, instructional texts, tests, atlases and their kind. Portraits are not on the list, and the legislative history names them specifically as excluded. A family portrait painted by an independent studio is therefore an ordinary commission: the painter is the author, the buyer holds the object, and the image rights remain with the painter unless a signed writing says otherwise. The UK has no work-for-hire doctrine at all, so a British or European buyer’s position is, if anything, even clearer.
What you can do without asking anyone
The everyday things are all yours. Hang the painting wherever you like, move it between houses, give it away, photograph it and send the photo to your mother, ask your framer to fit it, sell it if you ever want to, pass it down. Posting a photo of a painting you own on your own social media is normal practice; you are showing off your own wall. Printing a small run of holiday cards or a gift print for the grandparents sits in the same territory: it is technically a reproduction of an image the studio owns, but a personal, non-commercial one. At our studio this is not left ambiguous — personal-use printing (cards, gifts, a single print for a relative) is allowed and costs nothing. If another studio is vague about it, get the answer in an email before you pay. It should take them ten seconds and cost you nothing.
What stays with the studio, and why
The reproduction rights that remain with the painter are the commercial ones: the portfolio, the studio website, Instagram and Facebook posts, before-and-after reels, printed brochures at art fairs. This is not studio greed; it is how a buyer tells a real atelier from a drop-shipping reseller. The before-and-after pair — reference photograph next to painted canvas — is the single strongest proof that a portrait was hand-painted, and a studio that cannot show its archive is asking you to trust a claim nobody can verify. The numbered certificate that ships with your canvas references that archive for the same reason. If the studio posts your portrait with your name attached and you would rather it stayed private, that is a conversation, not a fight — see the next section.
If you don’t want it online: privacy is a reasonable request
Plenty of buyers would rather a portrait of their children, or a memorial piece, never appeared on a public feed. Studios accommodate this routinely; the only thing that matters is timing. Say it before painting starts, so it can be written into the commission notes alongside the size, the deadline and the background. Options worth asking for: no posting at all, posting with faces cropped, first name only, or a delay of a few months until the gift has been handed over — a common request with surprise commissions. What is difficult is asking for removal after a post has collected shares; most studios will still take it down, but prevention beats cleanup every time.
When you genuinely need a written license
Some uses leave personal territory. Selling prints of the image, putting the likeness on a book cover, an album sleeve, a business website, merchandise or a charity auction catalogue all involve the studio’s copyright, and each needs a license in writing. Honest ranges between studios look like this:
- A one-off, low-volume use — a memorial booklet, a private run of a hundred cards printed at cost — is usually granted free or for a nominal fee.
- Ongoing commercial use is commonly quoted as a flat fee from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, depending on print run, territory and duration.
- Buying the copyright outright — an assignment — is a signed written transfer, usually priced at several times the painting itself, because the studio is giving up a piece of its archive permanently.
None of these should be improvised after delivery. Ask at the quote stage; the answer shapes the price and takes two minutes to give.
How long the copyright lasts — and why it barely matters
Copyright in the image runs for the painter’s life plus 70 years in the US, the UK, the EU and most countries an international buyer ships from. A painter in their thirties will hold these rights deep into the twenty-second century, which sounds alarming until you notice that a portrait’s practical afterlife does not depend on the statute: the painting itself is yours forever, and the licenses you actually need — holiday cards, a family-history book, a posthumous print run for a memorial service — are settled by the written agreement you make now. Keep the commission notes with the certificate. That one-page record is what your heirs will actually read, long before any of them consult a law.
The old-photograph wrinkle
There is a second copyright hiding inside many commissions: the reference photograph itself. If you took the photo, the image rights are yours and there is nothing to clear. If a professional shot it in 1962, the copyright can still sit with that photographer or their estate — life plus 70 years means work from the 1960s is easily still protected. Photographs published in the US before 1930 are generally public domain, and pre-1978 rules differ in detail, so the practical rule is simple: your own phone snaps and scans of old family prints are fine; a professional portrait taken within living memory deserves a quick check, and the painter will ask about it at the mock-up stage anyway. We cover the photo-quality side of this in the guide to turning an old, damaged photograph into a portrait.
Six questions to ask before you pay
The whole subject reduces to a short checklist. Any studio that has done this for years will answer all six in a single email:
| Ask | Why it matters | Typical answer |
|---|---|---|
| May I print cards and gifts from the portrait? | Defines your personal-use rights in writing | Yes — free, stated in the commission notes |
| Will the painting appear on your site or social media? | Privacy, especially for children and memorials | Yes by default; opt-out on request, agreed before painting starts |
| If I later want prints to sell, what would a license cost? | Prices the most common future need up front | A flat fee quoted when you ask, based on run and territory |
| Can I commission the copyright outright? | Full control of the image, forever | Yes — signed written assignment, priced separately |
| Would you ever use the image commercially? | Protects both sides from surprises | Only with a separate written license from you |
The short version
- You own the canvas; the studio owns the image. That is the default in the US, the UK and the EU, not studio small print.
- “Work for hire” almost never applies to portraits — the painter is the author unless a signed writing says otherwise.
- Personal printing — holiday cards, gift prints — is allowed at this studio free of charge; confirm it in writing elsewhere.
- Portfolio and social-media use stays with the studio; request privacy before painting starts, not after posting.
- Commercial use needs a written license; full transfer of the image rights needs a signed assignment and costs several times the painting.
- Copyright runs for the painter’s life plus 70 years — which is why the one-page commission agreement matters more than the statute.
Every commission at this studio is quoted as a fixed price with the mock-up, revision rounds and these usage terms in writing — the same documents described on the how commissions work page and in the guide to what to do if you don’t like your portrait. If you want a portrait and a clear answer on rights in the same email, browse the custom portrait sizes and prices, then send your photograph or write to the studio directly — the reply will cover both.