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By Intellectual Property Law, Esq.

Lawprof -- and native Clevelander -- Peter Friedman seconds my take on the Cleveland Museum matter:

"The CMA has used the doctrine of deviation in the past in a responsible way, and there?s no reason to think, given the obvious need even its critics acknowledge, that if it convinces the court to allow it, that the decision would be a precedent for museums everywhere suddenly to act irresponsibly. Nor should we make rules that don?t permit courts to look at individual cases and grant relief from restrictions that are no longer serving any useful purpose just because we?re afraid someone may try to get away with fooling a court into letting them act irresponsibly. As Zaretsky points out, those who fear that allowing the CMA to be released from the restrictions imposed on its use of certain funds because circumstances demand it would create a bad precedent are blind to the fact that the rules that allow precisely that have been around and worked well for a long time."

Full post as published by The Art Law Blog on September 24, 2009 (boomark / email).