Who is the copyright holder of the Sculpture Ensemble located in Târgu Jiu, created by Constantin Brâncuşi? Logical and legal reasoning

Abstract

According to the final decision issued by a national court in 2004 and confirmed by the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the owner of the copyright in the Work is Theodor Nicol, a Canadian citizen of Romanian origin. His copyright would not expire until 2051.
In reality, this decision is based on a clerical error that affected the Romanian copyright law (in force at the time the judgment was issued) – as such error was also subsequently acknowledged by the Romanian High Court of Cassation and Justice   so that the entire logical and legal reasoning behind the decision becomes extremely weak.
Hence, applying the provisions of the amended form of the copyright law, the copyright over the Work has been in the public domain since 1973, so anyone can use / sell images of the Work (or souvenirs that take the form of the Work) without any agreement or payment of any royalties.