Am I the author of a book about someone else's artwork?

October 10, 2020 9:34 AM

If I publish a book of photographs of someone else's artworks (with commentary by me), am I the "author" of that book?

I had assumed that the artist would be the author, but now that I think about it, he's more the subject of the book rather than the author.

I'm trying to fill out the form to request a Library of Congress Control Number. My choices of contributor type are: Author, Editor, Illustrator, Translator, Compiler or other.

Also, just to avert a digression, I have the sole IP rights to all the art.

posted by chocolatepeanutbuttercup to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

Best answer: You are the author. There are any number of books called "The Art of [Name]" written by people who were not Name, with the author being the person who reviewed and commented on the art.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 10:00 AM on October 10, 2020 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Author credit in artist monographs always goes to the writer(s) or editor(s) of the book. The only exception I can imagine is if the artist had compiled and sequenced a book-length work themself, and you were simply contributing an introduction or other supplementary material. It doesn't sound like the artist was directly involved in the production of this book, so they are its subject.
posted by wreckingball at 10:51 AM on October 10, 2020 [2 favorites]

I am a librarian: you are definitely the author. There are a bunch of things on the back end of the book's record that will also ensure that people know who the book is about so people can still find it.
posted by jessamyn at 2:32 PM on October 10, 2020 [1 favorite]