Most people who move into an older home or apartment run across this problem. Most people, including professional painters, take the easy way out and just paint over ceiling fixtures and electrical outlets so save time and effort.
The best way to take off the painted on ceiling fixtures is to first turn power off to the fixture and then simply take a razor blade or box cutter and score a line deep enough to cut through the paint where the fixture and the ceiling meet. Assuming the screws holding the fixture have been removed, the fixture should now be free to remove. If the screws are also covered in paint it will be necessary to scrape off the paint with either the razor blade or even the tip of a screwdriver.
For the more stubborn fixtures where the paint is really caked on, you may have to pry it off. In this case you would use a flat blade screwdriver and use the same motion as you would use to pry open a paint can lid. It might be necessary to tap it in between the fixture and the ceiling with a hammer and then begin prying.
Once you remove it, it is a great opportunity inspect the wiring and then sand down the edge formed where the paint ends and to prime and repaint the area the desired color so that when you do put a new fixture up, all you have to do is make the electrical connections and screw it in place. The painting will already have been done.
If in the future you decide to repaint the area, your best option is to simply lower the fixture a little and paint. When the paint is dry you can go ahead and tighten the fixture back up again. If this is not possible, you should consider taping around the fixture right up to where the fixture meets the ceiling so that none of the paint gets on the fixture and when the tape is removed, you will have a nice clean line and the fixture will not be painted to the ceiling.
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