有關世界各大博物館收藏之中國書畫作品的作者性問題，在普遍以西方價值為主流的當代世界，引起對某些文化差異與誤會的研究。在西方，博物館的藏品——包括中國的作品——都要經過專家客觀評鑑的審查，主要是要鑑定作品的來源與原創作者。這項原則逐漸遍及世界各大博物館，包括中國、臺灣與日本的博物館。不過，傳統上關於作品著作權（指auctoritas）的鑑定並不以法律、物質、或歷史為準，而是按道德法則、思想形態、和流傳目的來認定。對作者性問題的分析涉及重新研究藝術在社會與文化上的作用、重新探討傳模移寫的位置與作用，而此項對藏品著作權的研究發展，亦涉及藝術品與藝術家的關系，以及在思想、觀念、社會、甚至在政治上的影響。

The question of authorship concerning the Chinese paintings and calligraphies that are collected in the great museums in the world gives the opportunity to raise the problem of some cultural differences or misunderstandings in a world where Western values are generally prevailing. Thus, in the Western world, museum collections, even of Chinese artworks, are certified by experts with a purpose of objectivity, and the origins of the artworks as well as the determination of their author(s) constitute a fundamental work. These principles gradually gain the world’s great museums, in China as well as in Taiwan, and even in Japan. Though, traditionally, authorship, in the sense of authority (auctoritas), concerning an artwork, was not defined in legal, material or historical terms, but following moral and ideological norms, with a purpose of transmission. This questioning about authorship gives the opportunity to re-examine the social and cultural role of art, the place and function of copy, the link between the artwork and the artist, as well as the ideological, social, even political consequences of such an evolution of authorship.