For most art forms the concept of degrees of ownership can best be examined in the realm of copyrights. A copyright is the legal right granted to an artist or distributor for the production, sale, or distribution of an artistic work. In effect, a copyright marks a level of a degree of ownership and, in its most basic form, a copyright is secured for a work by its creator or the entity that has paid for its creation.
However, when there exist multiple creators of a work or when there exist multiple channels for the distribution of a work the concept of degrees of ownership become more skewed and declaring copyrights become more complicated. The following summarizes the issues faced by the art forms that have been examined.
Books are most frequently copyrighted by their respective authors or publishers. When the book is sold to a consumer the consumer he may use it in any way he wants, but is prohibited from making and distributing copies of his book. However, it is entirely within his rights to lone the book out to others. The point being that ownership is retained by the author or publisher and is not transferred to the consumer.
Degrees of ownership regarding paintings are somewhat different. As with books, the creator of a painting or that who has commissioned the work owns the original copyright. However, unlike books where the primary method of distribution is sale to the consumer, paintings are distributed by various means. They may be made into prints, copied by other artists, digitized, or marketed in conjunction with other products. In this case, copyrights then exist on each level of reproduction.
The art forms of sculpture, music, and motion capture are similar to paintings within the context of degrees of ownership. Like paintings, these media can have multiple creators and distribution channels and so some form of copyright can be claimed by the maker or distributor at each level.
Concerning all of these art forms, degrees of ownership is not necessarily a static concept. What is perceived today as exclusive ownership may change as a result of new reproduction and distribution methods. A case in point is the copyright controversy that resulted from the introduction of the paperback book. As new technologies arise to reproduce art forms, degrees of ownership, and consequently copyright laws, will have to be reexamined to best account for the expectations expected by both the creators of art and its consumers.