Do artists have to patent there work or is there something else they do?

Answers:
Your own john handcock with the year of creation if you choose to. This is how the artistic world makes it's own copyright.

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Only their spelling. Any work you create is your copyright if you choose to retain it.

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I don't know about paintings but photo graphs have a copyright and an author can post a copy of his book to himself and not open it . The dates on the parcel will prove copyright. The only augment then is if a claim is made that you sold or gifted it to someone else

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When you create an original artwork, it "automatically" has common law copyright protection. That is, no one can copy your art and publish it, display it, or use it on a product for sale.

If you want formal government protection, you can register your work with the U.S. Copyright Office. There are forms online to fill out. The advantages of formal copyright registration are (1) there is a record of your creation; and (2) if someone copies your work, you can sue him not only for your actual damages (which includes the amount of money someone else made on your art), but also for statutory damages of $25,000.00.

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Patents do not apply to artwork. A copyright is what applies to art. Legally, any work that can be copyrighted is protected by copyright from the moment it is created. That said, registering the copyright provides legal options not available if the copyright is not registered. It also established that the work existed at the time of registration. This is helpful if someone tries to claim they created the work first.

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Artistic work is required to be copyrighted. Only workable idea can be patented while physical expression of idea is protected under copyright law.