The internet is filled with things. Here is one of them.
UK court rules photos of out-of-copyright artworks are not themselves copyrightable2023 Dec 30
In essence, the judge ruled that because the intent of a photo of an artwork is to, as accurately as possible, show that art digitally, and not to add any creativity of its own, that the photo is not itself copyrightable. This now catches up with the US, where several different rulings over the years have explicitly barred from copyright photos such as these, 3D scans of objects, and databases such as phone directories.
In essence, the judge ruled that because the intent of a photo of an artwork is to, as accurately as possible, show that art digitally, and not to add any creativity of its own, that the photo is not itself copyrightable. This now catches up with the US, where several different rulings over the years have explicitly barred from copyright photos such as these, 3D scans of objects, and databases such as phone directories.