Q: I would like to know if I, as the artist, still hold the rights to reproduction of an image I sold to a stock art house even though I do not actually have possession of the artwork.

A: Generally speaking, an artist retains the copyright to his or her work unless those rights are specifically transferred to someone else. It sounds as if you did sign away your rights to the piece, but careful study of your agreement with the stock art house will probably illuminate this issue.

Copyright laws are complex. A simple protection for artists has always been to inscribe the letter ‘c’ inside a circle next to their signatures (©), but even without this symbol the signature should be sufficient to prove ownership of a copyright. You may wish to consult a lawyer that specializes in art about your particular situation. To locate Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts in your area, call the New York office at (212) 319-2787, ext. 1. There are also two informative publications that may be of interest: Legal Guide for the Visual Artist, by Tad Crawford (Allworth Press, New York, New York) and The Artist-Gallery Partnership: A Practical Guide to Consigning Art, by Tad Crawford and Susan Mellon (Allworth Press, New York, New York).