PORTUGAL Law and Practice Contributed by: João Valadas Coriel, Sofia Quental, António Vieira and Inês Grácio, Valadas Coriel & Associados
• if such work belongs to the public domain and, if not, who holds the copyright; and • the purposes of the use of such images. In fact, no authorisation pertaining to copyrights may be deemed necessary if the work belongs to the pub - lic domain, or if a certain use is permitted under the free usage of works, such as use for academic pur - poses, educational use, news reporting, private use or use by non-profit institutions. However, even if the work belongs to the public domain, museums and public entities (such as the DGPC) may still hold reproduction rights, which must be addressed if a commercial use is intended. If the work does not belong to the public domain, the next step will be to identify the copyright holder. Other entities may also need to be consulted, as follows. • The DGPC if the artwork is part of a national monu - ment, museum or collection under state protection. Special restrictions may apply to works that are classified as national treasures or cultural property of public interest. Requests typically go through the museum, archive or cultural institution where the work is housed. • The museum or institution holding the artwork may impose specific reproduction and licensing condi - tions for images of artworks in their collections, even if the artwork is in the public domain. • The Portuguese Society of Authors ( Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores – SPA) is the main collec - tive management entity for visual artists’ copyright in Portugal, and its permission is required if it is handling the copyright management. • Other collective management organisations should be consulted if the rights are being managed by them, such as foreign or international copy - right agencies – eg, the Society of Authors in the Graphic and Plastic Arts ( Société des Auteurs dans les Arts Graphiques et Plastiques – ADAGP) in France and VG Bild-Kunst in Germany – if the artist is represented internationally. After such assessment of the entities that need to be addressed to obtain permissions, the request for image usage needs to specify the purposes, fram -
ing, medium, duration and geographical scope, which need to be reflected in a written agreement. Such agreement should specify the rights granted, restric - tions and any fees or royalties. Public entities and collecting societies may have standard fees based on the type of use. The use of copyrighted images for text and data min - ing or AI training raises additional legal complexities. Under current EU copyright frameworks, certain text and data mining activities may be permitted unless rights holders have expressly reserved their rights (opt-out). The practical effectiveness of such reser - vation mechanisms remains the subject of ongoing debate, particularly in the context of large-scale data scraping and generative AI systems. Contractual terms, platform conditions and licensing arrange - ments should therefore be carefully reviewed, as they may extend permitted uses beyond traditional repro - duction and distribution rights. 4. Authentication of Artworks 4.1 Posthumous Rights to Authenticate Artwork Although there is no specific legislation governing the authentication of a deceased artist’s artworks, moral rights and cultural heritage laws provide a legal frame - work that addresses this matter under Portuguese law. Authentication as a technical assessment of genuine - ness is not, in itself, a legally reserved activity of the moral rights holder. However, where authentication involves attribution of authorship, it directly engag - es the moral right of paternity and may therefore fall within the sphere of protection afforded to heirs or other successors. As noted in 2.1 Artists’ Rights Over Their Art , moral rights are perpetual and do not expire, ensuring that an artist’s legacy remains protected. Upon the artist’s death, the responsibility for managing and safeguard - ing these rights is assigned to: • the artist’s heirs or legal successors, or an institu - tion established by the artist for these purposes
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