Art Legal / possible copyright advice?
Hi all, I hope someone can give me some advice here. I’m in England.
Around 7 years ago I commissioned an artist to create a very specific painting, I provided him with the composition and the characters / names to be included within the painting. The painting was very personal to me. After around 8 drafts we agreed on the final piece to proceed with. He painted it, I was very happy with it and paid the fee for the painting which is oil on canvas. It wasn’t cheap, it is a large oil on canvas.
Due to the personal nature of the painting I explicitly explained to him that I do not wish to have any prints made of the original, he agreed via email that I own the copyright.
Fast forward a couple of months and he reached out and said he was having such great feedback on his socials could he please please do a limited one off run of 100 glicee prints. I agreed but explicitly stated on email that it be limited to 100 and no more.
Fast forward to today I have found a website that has printed thousands of my exact paintings image on top t shirts, cups, mugs, glasses, posters….
I feel a bit violated and annoyed!
Do I have any recourse at all? All communication between me and the artist was via email.
Thanks in advance to anyone he can give me any advice at all!