Rhode Island General Laws
Chapter 5-62 - Works of Art — Artists’ Rights
Section 5-62-2. - Definitions.

§ 5-62-2. Definitions.
Whenever used in this chapter except where the context clearly requires otherwise, the terms listed below have the following meanings:
(1) “Artist” means the creator of a work of fine art or, in the case of multiples, the person who conceived or created the image, that is contained in or constitutes the master from which the individual print was made.
(2) “Art merchant” means a person who is in the business of dealing, exclusively or non-exclusively, in works of fine art or multiples, or a person who, by his or her occupation, holds himself or herself out as having knowledge or skill peculiar to those works, or to whom that knowledge or skill may be attributed by his or her employment of an agent or other intermediary who, by his or her occupation, holds himself or herself out as having that knowledge or skill. The term “art merchant” includes an auctioneer who sells art works at public auction, and except in the case of multiples, includes persons, not otherwise defined or treated as art merchants in this section, who are consignors or principals of auctioneers.
(3) “Author” or “authorship” refers to the creator of a work of fine art or multiple or to the period, culture, source, or origin, as the case may be, with which the creation of that work is identified in the description of the work.
(4) “Certificate of authenticity” means a written statement by an art merchant confirming, approving, or attesting to the authorship of a work of fine art or multiple, which is capable of being used to the advantage or disadvantage of some person.
(5) “Conservation” means acts taken to correct deterioration and alteration and acts taken to prevent, stop, or retard deterioration.
(6) “Counterfeit” means a work of fine art or multiple made, altered, or copied, with or without intent to deceive, in any manner that it appears or is claimed to have an authorship that it does not in fact possess.
(7) “Craft” means a functional or nonfunctional work individually designed and crafted by hand in any medium, including, but not limited to: textile, tile, paper, clay, glass, fiber, wood, metal, or plastic; provided, that if produced in multiples, craft does not include works mass produced or produced in other than a limited edition.
(8) “Creditors” means “creditor” as defined in the Uniform Commercial Code, § 6A-1-201(13).
(9) “Limited edition” means works of art produced from a master, all of which are the same image and bear numbers or other markings to denote the limited production of the work to a stated maximum number of multiples, or are otherwise held out as limited to a maximum number of multiples.
(10) “Master,” when used alone, is used in lieu of and means the same as such things as printing plate, stone, block, screen, photographic negative, or other like material that contains an image used to produce visual art objects in multiples, or in the case of sculptures, a mold, model, cast, form, or other prototype, other than from glass, from which additional multiples of sculpture are produced, fabricated, or carved.
(11) “On consignment” means that no title to, estate in, or right to possession of the work of fine art or multiple that is superior to that of the cosigner vests in the cosignee, notwithstanding the cosignee’s power or authority to transfer or convey all the right, title, and interest of the cosignor, in and to such work, to a third person.
(12) “Person” means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other group, however organized.
(13) “Print,” in addition to meaning a multiple produced by, but not limited to, such processes as engraving, etching, woodcutting, lithography, and serigraphy, also means multiples produced or developed from photographic negatives or any combination of these processes.
(14) “Proofs” means multiples that are the same as, and that are produced from the same masters as, the multiples in a limited edition, but that, whether so designated or not, are set aside from and are in addition to the limited edition to which they relate.
(15) “Reproduction” means a copy, in any medium, of a work of fine art that is displayed or published under circumstances that, reasonably construed, evinces an intent that it be taken as a representation of a work of fine art as created by the artist.
(16) “Reproduction right” means a right to reproduce, prepare derivative works of, distribute copies of, publicly perform, or publicly display a work of fine art.
(17) “Sculpture” means a three-dimensional fine-art object produced, fabricated, or carved in multiple from a mold, model, cast, form, or other prototype, other than from glass, sold, offered for sale, or consigned in, into, or from this state for an amount in excess of fifteen hundred dollars ($1,500).
(18) “Signed” means autographed by the artist’s own hand, and not by mechanical means of reproduction, after the multiple was produced, whether or not the master was signed or unsigned.
(19) “Visual-art multiples” or “multiples” means prints, photographs, positive or negative, sculpture, and similar art objects produced in more than one copy and sold, offered for sale, or consigned in, into, or from this state for an amount in excess of one hundred dollars ($100), exclusive of any frame, or in the case of sculpture, an amount in excess of fifteen hundred dollars ($1,500). Pages or sheets taken from books and magazines and offered for sale or sold as visual-art objects shall be included, but books and magazines are excluded.
(20) “Work of fine art” means any original work of visual or graphic art of any medium that includes, but is not limited to, the following: painting; drawing; print; photographic print; or sculpture of a limited edition of no more than three hundred (300) copies; provided, that “work of fine art” does not include sequential imagery such as that in motion pictures.
(21) “Written instrument” means a written or printed agreement, bill of sale, invoice, certificate of authenticity, catalogue, or any other written or printed note or memorandum or label describing the work of fine art or multiple that is to be sold, exchanged, or cosigned by an art merchant.
History of Section.P.L. 1987, ch. 566, § 1; P.L. 2000, ch. 429, § 1; P.L. 2019, ch. 308, art. 1, § 25.