Artist selling drawings of my house

[TechGinny]

I've just discovered that an artist local to the area is selling drawings of my property on her website. It's not easily viewed by the road, which means she would have had to enter the land to draw it.

I'm feeling quite annoyed about this, as she has never made contact to ask permission.

AIBU unreasonable to feel like this, and would you make contact to ask her to remove it from her website?

Taking a photo or drawing a building visible from a public street is not the same as doing it with a building which can't be seen without waking on someone's private property... I'm surprised so many people are comparing these scenarios. I know several artists (wouldnt go as far as to call myself one) and I dont think any of them would think this is ok.

Would people be happy with someone walking through a back gate into their back garden and photographing / drawing their house? It's basically the same thing

"Now if this post had been by someone who lived in a ‘normal’ terraced house, rather than an intriguing sounding one that isn’t visible from the road, posters would have been up in arms on the OP’s behalf.

But as her house sounds like it might be big, beautiful and dare I say valuable, people are calling her ‘unhinged’ and ‘bonkers’ for being unsettled by a local artist trespassing and then flogging prints of her sketch… confused"

Not at all. I couldn't give a shit about the house, where it is or how much it's worth. It's just my opinion that if OP were to get in touch with the artist I think the most likely scenario is that she will have a giggle and ignore it.

Sometimes you really can read too much into something, you know.

How lovely. I’d definitely buy one.

But as her house sounds like it might be big, beautiful and dare I say valuable, people are calling her ‘unhinged’ and ‘bonkers’ for being unsettled by a local artist trespassing and then flogging prints of her sketch… confused"

The OP has no evidence that anyone has trespassed or used drones or any of the other overly dramatic stuff posted here. The house is very old. It's extremely unlikely that no photographs of it exist. I get the OP is uncomfortable about it, but there is no evidence anyone has done anything wrong here.

The distinction between an ordinary house and a notable house is important. People in the surrounding area are likely to have a connection with a notable house through their relatives working or visiting there, or because it reflects or represents the history of the district. I can’t see why that’s not being acknowledged?

You are assuming that trespass has taken place but this will be very difficult to prove. The drawing could easily have been done from a photo taken by someone who had permission to be there.

I think it's all a bit silly to be honest and you will not get anywhere. The copyright belongs to the artist so the best you can do is ask them not to sell it and hope they will agree out of kindness.

You say you're not going to take them to court but you would literally have no grounds to do so anyway

Is it trespass to walk up someone's drive? If so, plenty of people "tresspass" on my land every week to put fliers through the door.

Anyway, trespass isnt a crime, it is - at most- a civil offence. If you think you can prosecute her for it, go for it. It will give her a laugh if nothing else.

I would have problem with people making money out of my property! Speak to her!

@Cailleach1

A photograph of the house could have been taken at any time in the past. The friend/ schoolfriend or relative of some previous occupant.

If you read back you'll see OP said:

It's a house that has been in the family for over a century, so she definitely hasn't had permission from a previous owner

I agree with you OP. You're only getting a hard time because from your posts it sounds as though your house is big and you have a wealthy or privileged background. If this post was about an artist trespassing in someone's garden to draw a bog standard semi then everybody would agree with you.

@cabinfever102

I would have problem with people making money out of my property! Speak to her!

See my comment. She is the property owner but that's different from intellectual copyright.

For example, just because you own a copy of Harry Potter, doesn't meant you have the right to any royalties if anyone decided to take a photograph of the front cover and put it on T-Shirts. It's the publishing company, illustrator and author who would hold those rights, because they created the book and cover.

You have a right to be annoyed and uncomfortable about this.

@shesellsseacats

People here who are saying there's no problem, would you feel the same if you came across a picture being sold of the back of your house, obviously taken from your back garden?

How would that make you feel?

I know I wouldn't like it!

Lots of us can't relate to feeling this way about the front of our house as for most of us, it's there for everyone to see.

But, would you feel the same about a view of your house where they need to trespass to see it? Like your back door?

OP describes it as a "notable house", I'm not sure what that means but if it has meaning for more than just the people who live there then pictures of it are likely to exist.

It's much more likely that the artist has come across a photo of the house and decided to draw it than that they would bother to trespass to make a drawing.

@cabinfever102

I regularly have people taking photos of my front door... mostly they are delivering parcels! If they wanted to make a sketch based on their photos there is not much I could do about it.
Has this artist trespassed any more than a postal worker or someone dropping pizza leaflets?

@PyjamasAndWellies

Taking a photo or drawing a building visible from a public street is not the same as doing it with a building which can't be seen without waking on someone's private property... I'm surprised so many people are comparing these scenarios. I know several artists (wouldnt go as far as to call myself one) and I dont think any of them would think this is ok.

Would people be happy with someone walking through a back gate into their back garden and photographing / drawing their house? It's basically the same thing

Do you know whether the artist trespassed onto the op's property or not? The artist may have done the drawing something from an existing photograph, or from a photo they took in winter when the leaves had fallen.. The op said the house was difficult to see without coming onto the property; not impossible.

I wouldn't like that at all. It does seem an invasion of privacy.

Don't think you can really stop her from selling these pictures though?

Would hate the idea of trespass (creeps me out) and that the house would be identifiable as a local house ie ppl would know the location if they didn’t before (or drawing attention to it at all). I think it’s really weird! Why would anyone want a pic of a real house they could never visit, had no connection to?

@EspressoDoubleShot

Posters are spectacularly missing the point either lack of understanding or purposefully It’s the trespass aspect that’s unsettling. Access to property without consent The artist creating an image is unrelated to the trespass that may have occurred It’s not charming or flattering to have a stranger access ones property without consent

It’s ‘poor struggling artist’ vs ‘OP with her family wealth and big expensive house’. People are wilfully misunderstanding! I’ve been in plenty of similar houses that aren’t ‘historic’ but uniquely built. Never been sold and quite secluded as in own plot behind gates. There’s no way anybody would have been able to take photos without trespassing!

As you say it's an old and notable house in the area, perhaps she created her artwork without trespassing.
Are there images available online that she worked from? Was it more visible in previous years? Are her family from the area - could she have a photo or painting in her family of your house from before that she worked from? Etc. If the house is that notable it will be "known" as an image to many people.
Consider whether it's that fact she has drawn your house that you are annoyed about, or the fact that she might have trespassed (when she might not have...).
What do you have to gain by putting the accusation to her? If you are genuinely worried about trespassing, contact her to say you noticed the angle her picture is drawn from and ask where she was able to view that angle as you are surprised it can be seen from the road. A bit less accusatory.
If you like her drawings ask whether you can have a discount since it is your house Or if you want to be neighbourly invite her into your garden to draw your house from another angle too.

I'd be bloody delighted if someone draw and sold pics of my Suburban bungalow.... only they ain't.....

@BlackShadowCat

But as her house sounds like it might be big, beautiful and dare I say valuable, people are calling her ‘unhinged’ and ‘bonkers’ for being unsettled by a local artist trespassing and then flogging prints of her sketch… confused"

The OP has no evidence that anyone has trespassed or used drones or any of the other overly dramatic stuff posted here. The house is very old. It's extremely unlikely that no photographs of it exist. I get the OP is uncomfortable about it, but there is no evidence anyone has done anything wrong here.

Come to think of it the artist may be connected with someone who used to work for the house and have a photo - OP might be interested in a copy too?

The distinction between an ordinary house and a notable house is important. People in the surrounding area are likely to have a connection with a notable house through their relatives working or visiting there, or because it reflects or represents the history of the district. I can’t see why that’s not being acknowledged?

Because its irrelevant- that connection does not give them any rights, claims or ownership over the property such that they can trespass on OPs land to paint a picture and sell it for commercial gain. It's not an NT house, it's a private house.

I realise it’s a private house and trespass laws apply. The point I was making is that it’s more understandable that an artist would want to paint this house than an ordinary one.

For what it's worth, my parent's village has a photographs and memories group on Facebook. Someone recently posted a photograph of my gran standing by her back door. My gran has been dead for more than 20 years. It was taken by the grandmother of the poster who was a friend of my gran's. A while back someone posted a photo of the Brownies group and I was in it, not looking my best. It's a very popular page with over 1.5k followers. People just post old photos and memories of the village or people that used to live there. I imagine this sort of thing is very popular these days with photographs being passed on to younger generations who scan and upload them.

I suppose that's why I can't really see anything sinister in someone making a drawing of the OP's house. A local artist made a painting of my dad's grandparent's house and he was very pleased with it and bought it. I do understand that the OP was surprised to see a drawing of her house, especially as it's not visible from the road, but it seems odd to me to just assume the artist trespassed and ask her to take it down when it is such an old property. There just seems to be more innocent explanations, such as a previous owner (family member) giving permission or a photograph someone took.

Anyway, I do apologise if I caused offense by saying if I were the artist and I received an email asking to take down the image "bonkers".