It is generally not possible to file a copyright claim if someone replicates your photograph by painting it. While the owner of the copyright in the photograph may be able to sue, it is likely that the painting would be considered non-infringing, especially if the only connection to the original photo is that the artist saw it while painting and did not use mechanical means to copy it. However, painting from photographs can still lead to copyright infringement if the artist uses a copyrighted picture without permission. To avoid infringing on someone else's copyright, it is important to obtain permission or to use the work under the fair use doctrine, which permits limited use of copyrighted material for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports.