Copyright Law

Weekend Links

Posted on December 07, 2009
A bunch of art law stories over the last few days:Bloomberg reports that "Italian police seized art work valued at more than $149 million belonging to Calisto Tanzi, founder of Parmalat Finanziaria SpA, who is on trial for fraud linked to Italy?s biggest bankruptcy...

"It is easier to assert a conspiracy than to comprehend a complex reality"

Posted on December 06, 2009
The Philadelphia Inquirer prints the comments of Barnes chairman Bernard C. Watson at last month's groundbreaking at the new site. He begins by noting that when he joined the Board of Trustees in 1999, "the foundation's finances were in shambles." He says philanthropists and foundations weren't interested in giving money to "an organization that had a legacy of expensive and distracting litigation, no credible business plan, or a governance structure that would make implementation of such a plan possible...

"Why stop to figure out just what is worrisome about the new rules and proposed laws when you can simply express indignation or outrage?"

Posted on December 04, 2009
Jim Johnson notes a NYT story on "a bill before the French Parliament that would require labeling of any advertising photograph that has been retouched."

"The film, for me, seriously undermined its own credibility by committing errors of substance and emphasis"

Posted on December 04, 2009
Lee Rosenbaum previews her review of the Barnes documentary, The Art of the Steal. I wasn't too impressed with the movie either.

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"It raises the question of whether a private foundation such as this has any legal obligation ... to authenticate"

Posted on December 03, 2009
An important decision yesterday from the Appellate Division on the obligation to authenticate. For the most part, the case should provide a measure of comfort to artist foundations and authentication committees, but, as we'll see below, some uncertainty remains...

"Museums have mountains of stuff in their basements, which just takes up space. They're in limbo"

Posted on December 02, 2009
Interesting article by Daniel Grant in the Maine Antique Digest on museum "swaps."

"Until now, it was against the law for any British national museum to let go of any object in its collection, no matter what the reason"

Posted on December 02, 2009
Now that's taking the idea of the "public trust" seriously. No matter what the reason. What we have here is something else entirely. I believe Hugh Davies has found the technical term.

"Former Guggenheim Bilbao Finance Chief Sentenced for Thefts"

Posted on December 01, 2009
32 months. Earlier post here.

"Scanning alone is not creative enough to warrant its own copyright"

Posted on December 01, 2009
An interview with Peter Hirtle on Cornell University Library's new permissions guidelines for public domain images [via].

"Ideally, this will assist in the deconstruction of art theft as the sexy and elegant criminal enterprise"

Posted on December 01, 2009
A self-guided London art theft walking tour from Mark Durney.

Tell me again about the "public trust"

Posted on November 28, 2009
Artnet reports that a Nov. 24 sale at Christie's "included a group of 15 Isfahan carpets from the collection of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, which received them in a 1925 bequest from Montana senator William Andrews Clark .... No word from the museum at press time regarding the sale, but this particular deaccession seems to have prompted few protests, if any...

"They have focused much more on the overseas market, and particularly the American market, since about 2000"

Posted on November 28, 2009
The Wall Street Journal: "Iconic cultural institutions like the Tate, the Mariinsky and the Louvre all have set up American or international 'friends groups' in the last decade, in part to cash in on donations coming from the U.S. and to allow American supporters to take advantage of domestic tax write-offs...

"To think that a majority of people voted to part with a Tiffany window is a miracle"

Posted on November 25, 2009
The Boston Globe had a story yesterday entitled "Putting its mission before its treasure." It's about a financially-struggling Vermont church that has decided to sell its "prized asset," a Tiffany window depicting St. John the Divine:"The church considered selling its pews; it had an appraiser value its bell...

"Couple charged with trying to sell fake Warhols"

Posted on November 24, 2009
Story here.Greg Allen says this is "officially the best Fake Warhol In Utah story since the artist sent an impostor to deliver a lecture at the University of Utah in 1968."

Christie's Suit

Posted on November 24, 2009
Courthouse News Service: "An Indian art dealer says it paid Christie's more than $800,000 for 29 pieces of art, which the auction house failed to deliver and now is threatening to sell to someone else."More from The Art Market Monitor, including a statement from Christie's ("Christie?s finds this complaint completely meritless...

"Charges Dropped Against Nude Met Model"

Posted on November 24, 2009
Details here. Background here.

"I?m not sure that many people realize the collection will be reinstalled in galleries of the same size, the same shape, the same relationship ...

Posted on November 24, 2009
... and in exactly the same way it is hung in Merion." That's Barnes Foundation executive director and president Derek Gilman, in this Art & Auction piece by Judd Tully.

No Longer Looking Around

Posted on November 24, 2009
Richard Lacayo, on of my favorite art bloggers, is calling it quits.

Art and Money

Posted on November 23, 2009
A new paper from Goetzmann, Renneboog & Spaenjers. From the abstract: "This paper investigates the impact of equity markets and top incomes on art prices. ... [W]e demonstrate that ... equity market returns have a significant impact on the price level in the art market...

Schrock and Roll (UPDATED)

Posted on November 20, 2009
Clarida and Bernstein on the recent Schrock decision (mentioned earlier here):"[T]he cases appeared to diverge as to three fundamental questions: (1) Is a photograph of a copyrighted work a derivative work at all? (the 'Definition Question'); (2) Must such a derivative work exhibit a higher level of originality in order to qualify for copyright protection? (the 'Originality Question'); (3) Must the creator of such a derivative work obtain separate specific permission to register his or her copyright, over and above the permission required to create the derivative work? (the 'Permission Question')...

"Visual artists are conflicted as to where they stand in relation to copyright laws"

Posted on November 19, 2009
Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento: What Do Artists Want?

"An amazing story on many levels"

Posted on November 19, 2009
Judith Dobrzynski on the most stolen work of art in recorded history.

"The jury ... took less than 40 minutes, including lunch"

Posted on November 17, 2009
The Houston Chronicle: "A jury Monday disappointed the daughter of philanthropist and oilman Alfred Glassell Jr. by ruling that he was neither incapacitated nor unduly influenced when he gave the bulk of his half-billion dollar estate to charity [including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston] and not to her...

"It seems likely most ? consignors whose possessions were sold but who have yet to receive payment ? are going to come out ... empty-handed"

Posted on November 17, 2009
The Toronto Globe and Mail on the bankruptcy of Toronto-based Ritchies Auctioneers.

Another Museum Embezzlement

Posted on November 17, 2009
The Delaware News Journal: "A former Winterthur Museum employee voluntarily turned himself into Delaware State Police ... after a theft investigation revealed he had spent more than $100,000 of the museum's money."

"What makes this theft any different from a typical 'smash and grab' job?"

Posted on November 17, 2009
Art Theft Central's Mark Durney has more on last week's Munch theft in Oslo.

"The moralizing is a bit much"

Posted on November 16, 2009
Jerry Saltz on the New Museum in this week's New York magazine.More from Saltz here.Related post here.

4.62 miles

Posted on September 30, 2009
As I mentioned below, I got a chance, thanks to Friend of the Barnes Evelyn Yaari, to see The Art of the Steal last night at the New York Film Festival. I was pretty disappointed. It's basically a piece of agit-prop; it makes no effort to provide any sort of balance...

Charitable Deductions Update

Posted on September 30, 2009
The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that the Baucus bill includes a 35 percent cap on charitable deductions by wealthy taxpayers (defined as individuals earning $200,000 and families earning $250,000):"That is less drastic than the 28-percent limit proposed by President Obama...

Fake Kahlos?

Posted on September 30, 2009
The New York Times had more yesterday on the group of disputed Frida Kahlo works mentioned earlier here:"Last week the Mexican government trust that controls the copyright to Kahlo?s work filed a criminal complaint against [the works' owner], a measure aimed at investigating the works...

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