Is that theft?

Question

An art student spends five years in museums copying the masters, stroke by stroke, until she can fake a Rembrandt. She never sells a single copy. Then she starts selling original paintings in a style critics call “clearly influenced.”

Accepted Answer

Every artist who ever lived trained exactly like this. Style isn't copyrightable — only specific works are. Remember the art student. She comes back. (9% of Americans answer "Theft" — floor est.)