This image is from the Swiss/French artist Corinne Vionnet, who found dozens of tourist snapshots of the same object online and edited them together to form a single image. A gallery of her work — “Photo Opportunities” — is online here.
Assume for present purposes that US copyright law were applied to this image and to its source images. Assume that Corinne Vionnet did not obtain express permission from the owners of copyrights (if any) in each of the underlying images. Has she infringed any of those copyrights? Does Corinne Vionnet own a copyright in her work?
Discuss.
Now assume that the national laws of each relevant country apply to Corinne Vionnet and to each source image.
Pour yourself a drink, then discuss.