Can Artists Use Their Sale Contracts to Game the System?
Great article by Lauren van Haaften-Schick on the artists' contract.
In March 1971, a broadside boldly labelled The Artist’s Reserved Rights Transfer and Sale Agreement rolled off an independent press in New York. Across the poster’s front was a manifesto by Seth Siegelaub, the innovative conceptual art curator-publisher and former dealer, outlining ‘some generally acknowledged inequities in the art world’. Its verso, drafted by the young lawyer Robert Projansky, contained 19 clauses in heavy-handed legalese promising to remedy those ills.
Did it, or does it, work?
Seth Siegelaub: “Better Read Than Dead” Conversation and Book Launch
Don't miss this interesting panel on a new book concerning Seth Siegelaub and his very own "writings—one of the projects for which he never found the time, busy as he was running his global one-man operation. Edited by a group of researchers and curators who each collaborated with Siegelaub, the book brings together his personal notes, public interviews, and precious few published writings into one volume, offering unprecedented insight into the many facets of his inquisitive life."
Panel includes Lauren van Haaften-Schick, Jo Melvin, and James Hoff. More info on this event here.
Significant New Trademark and Copyright Legislation
Our good friend, Dave Steiner, gives us a good recap of recent copyright and trademark legislation.
Interestingly, in regard to the Copyright (Small) Claims Board, Steiner writes,
Participating in a procedure before the CCB is voluntary—a respondent may opt out of a procedure originally brought before the CCB. In that event, the CCB must dismiss the proceeding without prejudice, which presumably would force the claimant to file a case in district court. Although other consequences of opting out are not yet clear, we would expect that doing so may lead to larger damages awards and increase the probability of an ...
2021 Art & Law Program Fellows Announced
You may read about the new crop of Art & Law Program fellows here.
Works from 1925 are open to all
It's public domain time. Duke's Center for the Study of the Public Domain has a very thorough, funny and witty article on what works are now in the public domain and free for use in the United States. Included in this list is one of my favorite artworks of all-time, Joan Miró's The Birth of the World, from 1925.
For those that are still in awe of copyright infringement cases, here’s an update on the Koons/Pompidou/Pig controversy. In brief, Koons and the Pompidou lost the appeal and won themselves an increase in monetary awards due to the photographer of the girl/pig image. As of this moment, Koons still displays the image of the pig and girl on his website.
In March 1971, a broadside boldly labelled The Artist’s Reserved Rights Transfer and Sale Agreement rolled off an independent press in New York. Across the poster’s front was a manifesto by Seth Siegelaub, the innovative conceptual art curator-publisher and former dealer, outlining ‘some generally acknowledged inequities in the art world’. Its verso, drafted by the young lawyer Robert Projansky, contained 19 clauses in heavy-handed legalese promising to remedy those ills.
Detecting art forgeries is hard and expensive. Art historians might bring a suspect work into a lab for infrared spectroscopy, radiometric dating, gas chromatography, or a combination of such tests. AI, it turns out, doesn’t need all that: it can spot a fake just by looking at the strokes used to compose a piece.
Don’t necessarily agree with this Bloomberg article on the pipedream belief that artists can, or should, change social ills through legal action. As the cliche goes, careful what you wish for. More law only means more regulation and, moreover, an increased reliance on a structure that may be betting against you. But there you have it. Should be good for all the aspiring art lawyers out there.
Finding in favour of Phillips Auctioneers LLC, Hon. Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York dismissed JN Contemporary Art LLC’s complaint against Phillips, holding that (i) “[i]t cannot be seriously disputed that the COVID-19 pandemic is a natural disaster”; and (ii) Phillips, therefore, did not breach its consignment and guarantee agreement with JN Contemporary when it invoked the force majeure provision[1] in the agreement to terminate the parties’ relationship.
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