Does selling a sculpture based on a copyrighted painting violate that painting&#39;s copyright?
<p>I am planning to sell a physical sculpture based on Michelangelo's <em>Creation of Adam.</em> There would be some additional features besides just the sculpture, but those are irrelevant for the purposes of this question. The painting, for those unfamiliar:</p>
<p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/Michelangelo_-_Creation_of_Adam_%28cropped%29.jpg/1920px-Michelangelo_-_Creation_of_Adam_%28cropped%29.jpg" alt="Creation of Adam Painting" /></p>
<p>The sculpture would be 3d modeled and then 3d printed. To give a sense of what I'm talking about, <a href="https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/art/the-creation-of-adam" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here's a link to a 3d model that I found.</a></p>
<p>Unless I can license that particular model, my plan is to pay another artist to create a similar model that I would then have ownership of. But, here comes the problem:</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Copyright_rules_by_territory/Vatican_City" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this Wikipedia page</a>, &quot;The Holy See owns all copyrights in the works published under its name or created on its commission (art. 5).&quot; Since this painting was commissioned by the Vatican for the Sistine Chapel, they own the copyright to it. So, I have several questions:</p>
<ol>
<li>In general, if a painting is copyrighted, can a sculpture be created based on that painting without violating the painting's copyright?</li>
<li>If not, would the religious nature of the scene be a good legal defense? I.e. this sculpture was inspired by the story of God creating man (not copyrighted), rather than inspired by a specific painting of God creating man (copyrighted).</li>
<li>If I do somehow violate copyright, how likely is it that the Vatican would actually sue? How far does their jurisdiction extend?</li>
<li>If I commission another artist to create a sculpture based on the painting, could I be violating the copyright of the artist who has <a href="https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/art/the-creation-of-adam" rel="nofollow noreferrer">already created a sculpture based on the painting</a>?</li>
</ol>
<p>If it matters, I am based in the US, though I would ideally like to be able to sell outside of the US. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;The Holy See owns all copyrights in the works published under its name or created on its commission (art. 5).&quot; Since this painting was commissioned by the Vatican for the Sistine Chapel, they own the copyright to it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The first sentence just says the Vatican owns all copyrights that exist, it doesn't speak to whether any copyrights exist in the first place. Earlier in that article, it says &quot;The law provides for copyright 70 years after the death of the author, or 70 years after publication for works with no named author.&quot; I don't know off-hand when Michelangelo died, but I'm pretty sure that it was more than 70 years ago. So if there is a copyright, it has long since expired, and who owns it is a moot point. The painting is well in the public domain.</p>
<p>If there were a valid copyright, a sculpture would be a derivative work and would require a license.</p>

copyright vatican-city-state