One of my photos was appropriated (maybe)

[GPS]

And if a poet sees your picture and writes a beautiful poem about it, what would he deserve for it? Not to speak about the famous painter who painted your house and got rich on that painting... Eh, I wish Mona Lisa could claim a part of the Leonardo's riches for the inspiration she gave him. After all it was entirely her own face he painted...

[Greg Lockrey]

And if a poet sees your picture and writes a beautiful poem about it, what would he deserve for it? Not to speak about the famous painter who painted your house and got rich on that painting... Eh, I wish Mona Lisa could claim a part of the Leonardo's riches for the inspiration she gave him. After all it was entirely her own face he painted...

and what about the lighting man.... the real unsung hero

[GPS]

I would give him 40%... what the heck.

[Greg Lockrey]

I would give him 40%... what the heck.

I'll take it!

[GPS]

On a more serious (?) note - I knew a student who was painting architectural scenery (a famous town) in fantastic paintings, different techniques. He was selling them on streets in the town like hot cakes to tourists. When I asked him how he does it (he didn't paint on the street) he laughed, took a dozen of postcards and showed them to me - his inspiration.
No, we don't own rights to the scenery we photographed. Even a painted copy of a famous painting, if sold under your name, is not illegal. Is just that - your painting of somebody's else painting.

[Richard Wasserman]

Well, here it is a new day and while I'm still not pleased I realize there is not much I can realistically do about it.. What are the odds that a painter who lives 1500 miles from here found the exact location where I had been, and used a 4x5 camera with a 300mm lens to make the exact same composition that I did?

I appreciate everyone weighing in on this, I never realized that copying someone else's photographs is an acceptable practice in painting. It may be legal, but it doesn't seem right to me, but of course I'm the photographer being copied.

I will be writing him a letter expressing my views, and I'll even send him a post card from a show announcement that used that image. He can put it in his scrapbook.

[GPS]

...
I appreciate everyone weighing in on this, I never realized that copying someone else's photographs is an acceptable practice in painting. It may be legal, but it doesn't seem right to me, but of course I'm the photographer being copied.
...

Richard, there is the fault in your logic - it is painting, not copying! If you compare the two results you see the difference, as you could see if you compare his painting with a real copy of your photograph. He painted - not copied - your photograph. Was he not allowed to? Why not? You own the scenery of 8x10 with 300mm lens perspective?

[Marko]

And then there is that pesky little concept called "transformative", mentioned in the copyright law.

Many copyright holders, especially photographers it seems, would like to wish it away, but so far even Mickey Mouse was unable to completely remove it.

Here is an unrelated question: How does the value of all your time spent so far on this compare to the realistic market value of your photograph?

Or to put it another way: could you possibly have created another photograph of the same value using all this time and energy?

[Richard Wasserman]

Richard, there is the fault in your logic - it is painting, not copying! If you compare the two results you see the difference, as you could see if you compare his painting with a real copy of your photograph. He painted - not copied - your photograph. Was he not allowed to? Why not? You own the scenery of 8x10 with 300mm lens perspective?

But my photograph is not the scenery. It is my interpretation of what I saw.

Also, what if, as it looks to me, he made a print of my image and then painted over it? Sort of paint by numbers.

[GPS]

But my photograph is not the scenery. It is my interpretation of what I saw.

...

And his painting is not the photograph. It is his interpretation of what he saw - on your photograph...