generally protect a person’s appearance—their face, body, or other identifiable features, including their name—when they appear in an artwork. These rights relate primarily to the commercial interests that the person portrayed may have in exploiting their image, but they may also protect that person’s privacy, dignity and personal autonomy. There is no single, internationally harmonized “image right”: privacy, personality, publicity, data protection, and dignity rules differ significantly from one jurisdiction to another, and a use that is permitted in one country may require consent, or even be prohibited outright, in another.
In many countries, in particular those aligned with , an artist, museum, or gallery may need permission to use an artwork that depicts a recognizable person, even when the use is non-commercial. This can apply to many forms of visual art, from portrait paintings and photography to sculptures based on real people and even AI-generated likenesses.
are about the commercial value of a person’s identity: how their name, likeness, or voice can be used in merchandise, advertising, or branding. In visual arts, these rights are especially relevant when artworks featuring celebrities or public figures are used beyond artistic or editorial contexts—for example, in posters, museum shops, or marketing campaigns.
Copyright vs. Person’s Image
Copyright and image rights protect different interests. The artist holds copyright in their creative expression—the composition, lighting, perspective, style, and artistic choices. But the person depicted may hold rights over how their likeness is used, particularly when that use affects their privacy or dignity, or suggests endorsement.
This means that a museum, gallery, publisher, or CMO clearing rights to an artwork must often consider two layers of permission: copyright licenses (from the artist or rights holder) and permissions to use the depicted person’s likeness (from the subject or their heirs).
In visual arts, both may be required, especially for public exhibitions, publications, or commercial uses.
Consents and Limits
Although image rights differ from country to country, many systems follow similar principles.
If a person is recognizable in an artwork, showing, distributing, or reproducing that artwork may require their consent. After the person’s death, consent may need to come from close family or heirs, depending on national law.
If the person was paid to pose—for example, as a model for a portrait, sculpture, or studio photograph—some countries allow the artist to exhibit or reproduce the artwork without seeking permission each time. Even so, some jurisdictions let the person (or their heirs) later restrict uses, particularly if dignity or privacy is affected.
Artworks showing people may also be used without consent in limited cases, such as for news reporting, public interest, or artistic freedom, depending on national law.
For visual arts institutions, the key challenge is that copyright licenses do not automatically include permission to use the subject’s likeness. A museum may have acquired a painting and obtained copyright permission to reproduce it, yet still need an additional license from the person depicted. This can be particularly relevant for catalogues, posters, merchandise, online use, or advertising.
managing reproduction rights may also need to clarify whether the images they license show recognizable individuals, because in some countries they cannot license such uses without the subject’s permission.
Ask yourself: Have I, in giving permission to use my work, obtained the permission of the person depicted in my artwork? Have I checked what the local law says about such uses in the country where this is to occur?
Credit image: Bulat Silvia