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?

@AdobeWanKenobi

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

Does the artist need permission to draw from a photograph of the house taken in the past? A photograph could have been taken by any past visitor. They may also have taken a photo of the house in winter if there is no leaf cover on the trees.

If the artist came onto the property to take the photo, that is a liberty.

Is it listed? Many notable buildings are indexed on here and have photos attached.
historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/map-search?clearresults=true

Did you not notice someone in your garden?

@Muma1992

Did you not notice someone in your garden?

Are you home 24 hours a day 7 days a week?

You are the Queen and I claim my £5.

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

Exactly... I don't understand why there's an assumption that the artist trespassed. It's much more likely that they didn't.

Ask for a cut!

Alright Liz? I know it is precious to you but honestly there are so many photos of Sandringham now that she could have copied any one of them without trespassing. I'd let it go.

If the house isn't visible from the road and it's not online, how would she even have known to sneak around and draw it? If local people have memories of the house and family , then isn't it much more likely that photos of the house are in existence and that she based her drawing on one of them?

@DeepaBeesKit

Your situation sounds akin to the Queen being upset people want to take photos of Windsor Castle.

The point being there is no public access to view OPs house. It's on private land deliberately obscured by trees. Why should be allowed to trespass to have a nosy?

They didn’t necessarily trespass to create the image. And there are properties owned by the Queen that are documented pictorially yet not easily accessible.

I’m not saying OP has no right to feel uncomfortable, but I do think if you live in a historical landmark this kind of thing is part of the deal.

Is it a listed building? Most listed buildings have a photo as part of the listing.

Images of England
Images of England was a photographic record of every listed building in England, created as a snap shot of listed buildings at the turn of the millennium. These photographs of the exterior of listed buildings were taken by volunteers between 1999 and 2008. The project was supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

@Tilltheend99

the fact that you think £40 for an art print is not worth it.

OP said she didn't have a spare £40 to spend on art - some of us don't - not that it wasn't worth it.

Sounds very petty

you could also ask/ensure she isnt providing location

If this is a historic building it could have been photographed for several reasons quite legally & the picture could be held in; County records office (especially if its deemed of historic interest or listed) Google (aerial shots or road shots from their cars - they have large cameras perched on their roofs) by estate agents, newspaper articles - including historic ones, random salesmen who might use it (unofficially) for sales purposes, Historic societies, local councils for planning issues or other random land & planning on neighbouring properties etc etc etc
It would be very difficult (& expensive) to pursue this in court, but by all means ask how & where she got this shot & perhaps, if its a decent picture she might give you a copy (I bet she is selling copies/prints rather than the original)

I'm shocked at some of the responses you've received. If a picture of my house appeared, say of the back of the house and the artist would have had to have trespassed in my back garden to gain that picture, I'd find it very unsettling.

I think you need to have a conversation with the artist expressing your concerns.

You have stated it is not easily visible form the road - so that means it is visible from the road - and maybe more so in the winter. A camera held out on a selfie stick may have caught this image

Or she may have been on your property for a completely legal reason - delivering a parcel?

Strangely i get why you feel uncomfortable about a picture of your house being sold more than i understand your concern about her maybe possibly stepping onto your property - yet causing absolutely no harm.

Oh & you can take photos from public footpaths including those that cross your land (or it could be from neighbours upstairs window?)

@Pokhora dh was involved in that BUT he was strictly told NOT to go onto their land (without permission) but take picture from public footpath etc

Does she identify the address in any way on the front ot back of prints, like " Ivy Cottage, Streatham"?

I'd certainly contact her and ask a few questions to ensure your privacy.

Before we bought our house, and with permission of the previous owner, a professional artists had made a one-off painting inside our garden overlooking both the garden and view beyond it. The view beyond made the location of our property instantly identifiable and in fact that's how we found out the painting existed; a friend spotted it for sale in a gallery and rang to tell us. We were delighted by the painting and bought it :-)

But I would feel differently if the painter had made our very locatable private garden image into prints . cards etc that sell in vast numbers, as there can be a bit of a security/ privacy issue to living inside a picture postcard.

See if these responses are a bit mad. Of course op can feel upset that someone has trespassed on her land to draw her house! Would you all be happy with someone sitting in your garden drawing your house? No?

This would definitely annoy me, she should’ve asked permission and if she’s making money from it I think the least she could’ve done is offer you a free print.

Oh no someone has drawn a picture of your massive beautiful noteworthy house, how awful for you