INDUSTRY FIELD GUIDE
Art dealer edition, provenance and reproduction records for AI
An artwork may have an edition number, ownership history and a separate agreement governing images.
NAICS 459920 · Art Dealers
An artwork may have an edition number, ownership history and a separate agreement governing images. Getty’s provenance resources provide public context for documenting ownership history. A dealer can create an original example that keeps those records distinct. Getty provenance research · Copyright Office visual arts guidance
Make a simple original print and two dummy edition cards. Add an acquisition record for one and an image authorization for another. Ask what each document supports and where the chain is incomplete. Score edition, ownership evidence and permitted use separately.
Use your own artwork and fictional records. Keep collectors, real valuations, confidential sales and unlicensed images out.
Describe an original artwork provenance exercise
Original Fiund exercise
Edition ownership evidence and permission to reproduce an image are separate chains
A dealer-authored geometric print has two fictional edition cards. All acquisition and image-use records are invented, with no collector, valuation, sale or licensed image.
| Record | Source | What it records |
|---|---|---|
| AD1 | Edition cards | Original print P, edition copies 1/10 and 2/10, distinct physical-copy references E1 and E2. |
| AD2 | Acquisition record | Fictional dealer acquisition names E1 only. Prior ownership chain before the named transfer not supplied; no image grant in this record. |
| AD3 | Image-use card | Author grants specified demo image use for E2 only. It states no acquisition or physical ownership transfer; no E1 image grant supplied. |
Question for the model
What does each record support for E1 and E2, and can either chain automatically fill the other?
Show the reference answer and checks
AD2 supplies the stated acquisition event for E1 but no earlier complete provenance chain or image-use permission. AD3 supplies a limited original image-use grant for E2 but no physical-copy ownership transfer. AD1's shared print title does not merge the edition copies. Keep edition, ownership history and reproduction scope separate, flagging the missing links rather than equating possession with copyright permission or a grant with acquisition.
- Treating an acquisition record as an image-reproduction license.
- Extending one edition copy's grant or ownership history to another numbered copy.
Fields to preserve
- Work and edition-copy ID
- Defines the object.
- Acquisition event and prior-chain coverage
- Supports stated provenance.
- Image grant, scope and target
- Separates reproduction rights.
Test another case
Add an E1 grant limited to a catalog display. Require that scope to remain distinct from AI training or an unrestricted image license.
Use original art and invented records. Exclude real collectors, values and confidential sales; professional rights review governs actual licensing.
Discuss a contribution
Describe the sources you control, the task they could support and what has already been checked. Use the existing-data assessment for an archive or the collection brief for a new recording project. The contributor agreement defines Fiund’s licensing authority and compensation. A guide or fictional exercise does not establish an accepted collection or a sale.