Copyright Law

"G&M?s petition is the first direct challenge to VARA?s constitutionality, and the Supreme Court?s response to the petition should be closely watched by property owners?including retail stores that may commission street art to adorn their retail space, as well as the art world generally."

Posted on August 03, 2020
5Pointz Owner Seeks SCOTUS Review of VARA. Background here.

Yet another mural dispute

Posted on July 30, 2020
This one in Oslo.

"But just as one mural controversy is ending, another is beginning."

Posted on July 30, 2020
Another mural-related VARA dispute. Story here.This one may have a statute of limitations complication: "Carrera says the city violated the statute when it installed the parade mural in 2012. She says she never waived her rights to her painting in writing, a requirement of the law...

"The report said the financial transactions were enabled by the secrecy and anonymity with which the art market operates and it called for tighter rules to force greater transparency." (UPDATED)

Posted on July 29, 2020
New York Times: Senate Report: Opaque Art Market Helped Oligarchs Evade Sanctions.UPDATE: A deep-dive from Tim Schneider, which ends up here: "The Senate report shows how complicated it can be to unmask the end client when shell companies, anonymous trusts, and legit-on-the-surface intermediaries are involved...

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"Consistent with VARA, VLS will be reaching out to the artist to determine if he would like to remove the mural within 90 days. If the artist chooses not to remove the mural, the mural will be painted over or otherwise removed. In the meantime, the mural is being temporarily covered."

Posted on July 29, 2020
Story here:"Painted and installed in the VLS Chase Community Center in 1993, 'The Underground Railroad, Vermont and the Fugitive Slave' 'celebrates the efforts of black and white Americans in Vermont and throughout the United States to achieve freedom and justice,' [the artist's] website says...

"We liked this variation because it addresses some of the criticisms of the Siegelaub-Projansky contract (that only successful artists benefit from its use), and that it redistributes wealth to produce social good ...."

Posted on July 28, 2020
More on Kadist's new resale royalty contract, mentioned earlier here.If we assume the problem a resale royalty is meant to address is the unfairness to the artist that results when a work significantly increases in value from its first sale ... I'm not sure how this solves that problem...

"G&M Realty ... filed a petition calling a provision of the 1990 Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) unconstitutional, stating that language in the act is too vague and infringes on the rights of property owners."

Posted on July 24, 2020
Artsy: The real estate company ordered to pay 5Pointz artists $6.75 million has appealed to the Supreme Court.Background here.

"Each of the former workers is expected to receive about 10 weeks of pay, said Daniel B. Rojas, one of the lawyers who represented them."

Posted on July 22, 2020
NYT: Marciano Foundation Settles Lawsuit Over Layoffs.The settlement costs them about $200,000, plus they agreed to pay $70,000 in legal fees to the employees' lawyers.Background here.

Five Years for Art Fraud

Posted on July 17, 2020
The Art Newspaper: "Philip Righter, 43, pleaded guilty to three felony charges?wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and tax fraud?in a case filed in Los Angeles. He admitted to selling works he falsely claimed were created by artists such as Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Kurt Schwitters and Roy Lichtenstein...

Important New AAMD Policy on Deaccessioning

Posted on April 01, 2011
The AAMD announced a major change to its deaccessioning policy today.  From now on, sales on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are prohibited; sales on Tuesdays and Thursdays are allowed.A spokesman for the AAMD said it was important to prevent sales on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays because once an object falls under the aegis of a museum, it is held in the public trust, to be accessible to present and future generations...

Barnes News

Posted on March 30, 2011
The hearing in the Barnes case yesterday seems like it was a non-event:  the Judge set a briefing schedule; the Barnes and the Attorney General have until mid-April, then the Friends have until the beginning of May to respond.  Stephan Salisbury has a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer...

"We thought it fell under fair use."

Posted on March 30, 2011
Forbes.com reports that, in order to distinguish synthetic DNA from its natural counterpart in an experiment they were doing, geneticist J. Craig Venter?s team coded several famous quotes into the synthetic version, including James Joyce?s: ?To live, to err, to fall, to triumph, to recreate life out of life...

"I thought I better recover the photograph before he goes underground, destroys it, or tries to sell it to someone who is not going to return it."

Posted on March 30, 2011
An important Czech photo, stolen from a Prague museum earlier this month, is found.

Barnes Update

Posted on March 26, 2011
The Philadelphia Inquirer's Stephan Salisbury reports that the Barnes Foundation and the Pennsylvania Attorney General have filed their responses to the Friends of the Barnes's latest attempt to reopen the case opposing the move:"In [the latest] petition, the Friends of the Barnes asked Judge Stanley R...

"The case illustrates the financial risks of the art market and highlights the difficulty of valuing an artist's work."

Posted on March 26, 2011
The Wall Street Journal's Robert Frank has more on Norman Waitt's lawsuit against Gerald Peters Gallery.

We Demand That You Not Close the Museum You Are Not Closing (a continuing series) (UPDATED)

Posted on March 23, 2011
Brandeis is renovating the Rose. Judith Dobrzynski has the story.UPDATE: The Boston Globe has more: "major renovations" to protect the collection "for the long haul."

Big Fair Use News: Patrick Cariou Prevails in his Copyright Lawsuit Against Richard Prince

Posted on March 20, 2011
Rob Haggart has the details. The decision is here. Background, including predictions of an easy win for Prince (in response to which someone says: "I wouldn't be so sure: litigation is always uncertain, and never more so than when it comes to appropriation art"), here...

"Things might not have come to this point if anyone had looked at the Met's website . . ."

Posted on March 19, 2011
". . . which still lists the painting as 'Partial and Promised Gift of Jan Cowles and Charles Cowles'."Georgina Adam has more on the "unusual lawsuit" recently brought against Gagosian Gallery.

Tell me again about the public trust (a continuing series)

Posted on March 18, 2011
Carol Vogel has an update on the Renoir that the Clark is holding in the public trust, to be accessible to present and future generations.

The AG on NYPMIFA

Posted on March 18, 2011
A summary, from Simpson Thacher.

"In the wake of a legal settlement announced this week, in which Norsigian agreed not to use the Adams name in selling his pictures . . ."

Posted on March 18, 2011
". . . the price has tumbled to $800 for gelatin silver and $600 for digital, sold in limited editions of 100 each."Before the settlement, the asking price was apparently $7,500 for gelatin silver and $1,500 for digital (in editions of 50 and 250, respectively).

"A report in today's BNA Daily Tax report is sending shivers down the spines of tax-exempt organizations."

Posted on March 17, 2011
The Nonprofit Law Prof Blog explains why.

"There's a whole constituency in the art world that acts like hall monitors, policing the manners of everyone."

Posted on March 17, 2011
That's Peter Schjeldahl, quoted in Judith Dobrzynski's follow-up to her New York Times article today on the growing prevalence of single-collector exhibitions. She adds that "he, like so many others, just wants to see art that's normally behind locked doors...

"Berry-Hill stacks up lawsuits"

Posted on March 17, 2011
The Art Newspaper's Martha Lufkin reports.

"The Trust had five legs welded to the bottom of 'Lagoon,' a matter on which the artist was never consulted."

Posted on March 17, 2011
Anthony Caro disowns a work altered by its owner.

"Museums exist to educate the public and delight them; it makes sense to feature these collections if you can."

Posted on March 17, 2011
Museums around the country are embracing single-collector exhibitions.

More on the Adams Settlement

Posted on March 16, 2011
The New York Times has a story this morning on the Ansel Adams settlement. The gist of it is that "it is not exactly clear just what has been resolved, beyond a cessation of name calling," but it seems to me that, if the settlement ensures that Norsigian "cannot use Adams?s name in selling prints from the negatives," then the Adams Trust has gotten prety much what it wanted out of the suit.

"This settlement marks the final resolution of the disputes over our rights in the AP?s photograph of Barack Obama."

Posted on March 16, 2011
It's finally over.

Adams Settlement

Posted on March 15, 2011
The Ansel Adams lawsuit has settled:"Under said agreement, Rick Norsigian and PRS Media agree to not use Ansel Adams' name or likeness or the ANSEL ADAMS trademark in connection with the sales, promotion or advertisement of [the works at issue]. Norsigian and PRS Media may continue to sell [such works], subject to a disclaimer approved by The [Adams] Trust, and provided they do so in a manner consistent with state and federal law...

"First came jail and a whopping fine."

Posted on March 15, 2011
"Now, [LA] City Atty. Carmen Trutanich is seeking a one-of-a-kind court injunction to bar Gheorghiu from profiting from art bearing his telltale 'tag.'"

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