Copyright Question

[Una Persson]

OK, here's another question.

I'm gathering material for a personal website. For part of this site I want to post high-quality jpg's of some classical fine art (Jacques Louis David). While browsing around for other scans of this sort of art, I notice that most people say something similar to the following on their site:

"these pictures are copyright of X and may not be downloaded or re-posted in any way, to do so is a violation etc., etc."

Here's my question: someone takes a scanner, and scans images from a book of a painting that was made in the 1700's. Yet they claim that they have not violated copyright, it's the person who downloads their scan who is violating copyright. It seems to me that they are claiming copyright over something that 1) was previously published in anther medium, and 2) is so old it doesn't fall under copyright anyways. I thought they would only possess a copyright if they added to or changed the original, out-of-copyright work somehow.

So in the following scenarios, who is violating copyright and who is not?

1) Person scans images of 18th Century art and puts them (without further modification) on their website.
2) Person downloads scans from (1) and re-posts them on their website without permission from person in (1).
3) Person scans images of 18th Century art and puts them (WITH some artistic modification) on their website.
4)Person downloads scans from (3) and re-posts them on their website without permission from person in (3).

My guess is the answers are:
1) No violation.
2) No violation.
3) No violation.
4) Violation.

Copyright experts out there - please help fight my ignorance so I can do the right thing.

[handy]

If I visit an art gallery & take a picture of a drawing, I can post that picture on the web. It's my photograph & therefore, copyrighted. Same with a scan, a scan is just a photograph too.

The Copyright law gives certain unrestricted use of Copyrighted materials. e.g., For education or news.

Ebay is full of people posting reprints of copyrighted stuff & its legal.