These past few years have brought us great copyright cases and conflicts, but rarely do we get one with a philosophical bent.  As many of you may know, Jacques Derrida was perhaps the best known (or at least the most popular) philospher of the twentieth-century. His works, stemming from the “practice” of deconstruction, analyzed ideological and philosophical structures such as structuralism and Marxism, to questions of love, ethics, and violence. In fact, Derrida spent quite a bit of time researching, thinking and writing about punishment and justice, but also Freud’s writings on The Mystic Writing Pad.

It is ironic, if not to say amusing, that a recent copyright case comes to us from abroad, Argentina to be exact, and deals with the question of “just desserts” in relation to copyright infringement.

Horacio Potel, the an Argenine philosophy professor who was facing a possible prison sentence for posting unauthorized translations of unavailable Derrida works for his students to read, was  exonerated by an Argentine court.

According to Boing Boing,

“In our legal system,” Beatriz Busaniche of Vía Libre told Intellectual Property Watch this week, “this case will not be considered as jurisprudence, but the case as a whole helped us spread the word about copyright issues.”

There is no doubt in my mind that if Derrida were alive, he would most certainly examine the structure of copying, and the structure of right.

The current economic crisis has not left the legal market untouched. During times like these, many lawyers second-guess their current legal careers and think about jumping ship to another law-related career or pursue a different practice area. Confronted with this existential question, many lawyers opt for hot or up-and-coming legal areas. Others begin by asking themselves what makes them happy or what they like to do. These two questions usually lead to intellectual property and art respectively. As an art lawyer, I am often asked about my career and if I like what I do. I am also asked for pointers on how to “get” where I am. In all honesty, I am usually unable to give a precise and succinct answer to these question because I too am perplexed by how I “got” here. Thus I decided to write a blog entry on precisely this question.

So, how do you become an art lawyer? Eight starting points.

First of all, do what you love, and love what you do. As cheesy as that sounds it’s true. You have to have a passion for it, which means that you won’t find doing any of what I mention below to be boring, excruciating, or a chore. In case you didn’t know this, we are in an age of transparency and honesty, and with social media sites and the Internet the days of being able to fool others and be pretentious are over. If you’re doing this solely so you can hang out with artists you’ve got another thing coming. Artists aren’t stupid; they’ll see right through you, especially when they’re paying you.

This leads to my second point. Artists don’t like to feel or be made to feel that what they do is a hobby. Artists don’t want you a lawyer to question their work and ask, “why is this art?,” and they certainly don’t want to have to convince you that what they’re doing is art. If you do that you’re certain to lose their respect and their business. Make an effort to understand art and artists’ particular method of working. Artists are the opposite of lawyers: lawyers are risk-averse; artists are risk-takers. This distinction will lead to some hard but necessary conversations with artists. You, the lawyer, will be forced to utter a word non-existent in artists’ vocabulary: no.

Third point. In order to better understand artists and their work, you must, must, visit art galleries and museums. Go to art openings, meet artists and ask them if you can do studio visits. If you like art and are seeking to support artists, buy art (it can also make a great investment).

Fourth point. Understand that artists and nonprofit art institutions pose particular problems. The learning curve can be high, but certainly rewarding. Remember that artists and art institutions also face problems similar to other clients or legal issues you may have had. They’ll still need written agreements, think about starting businesses, and certainly need insurance. Do some research: some artists and art institutions care more about the content of their work than they do about the money. Which client do you prefer?

Keep in mind that the art law field may not be highly lucrative if you focus too narrowly or are too picky. With this in mind, the fifth point is to be willing to expand your clientele by having an expansive definition of art. Are you interested in representing fashion designers, actors, musicians, dancers and filmmakers? Will they be in a broad range of practice areas and styles, modern or post-modern? Will you focus solely on intellectual property? Will you represent artists or galleries, or both?

Sixth point. What background interests do you have that could benefit artists? Think hard and make a list of services you could provide to this specific clientele. Do you have an MBA or other license that could deepen the services you provide for artists. Do you have an arts background? Where you a graphic designer? Are you a musician? Where you previously a gallery assistant or minor degree in art history?

Regardless, you’ll need to strengthen your repertoire. Take classes in copyright and trademark law, cyberlaw or Internet law. Enroll in a studio art course. This will not only energize the right-side of your brain, but more importantly it will give you a first-hand lesson in what artists face each time they go in to their studio. If you’re not much into getting dirty or moving materials around, try taking an art theory or art history course. I suggest something in modern or post-modern art. Don’t have time to take a full course? Check out your local museums and art institutions for art talks, panels and lectures, many of them free of charge. How up to date are you in new technology and social media networks? Remember, artists are always a step ahead and looking for new means of communicating and spreading their ideas and thoughts. Mix this with their background in studio art and art history and you’ve got a plate full of information to catch up on.

So how do you start? Point eight: believe it or not the best way to learn is by doing pro bono or volunteer work for legal organizations such as Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts in New York City (there are other VLAs in other states, so check to see if there’s one around you). There are also legal clinics affiliated with law schools across the U.S. that handle cases in art and entertainment law. Check those as well. Keep in mind that there are many low-income and mid-income artists who need legal services of all kinds. Many artists graduate from graduate art school with hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans, so you won’t have to look too hard to find artists who would love pro bono work from qualified professionals.

So what do you think? Are you ready to make the move? Keep these pointers in mind, and I hope they work for you. I’d be interested to hear what you think about them, or if you think I left something out. E-mail me at sergio_sarmiento@clancco.com and let me know.

Alfonso Frazetta and an accomplice allegedly used a backhoe to steal $20 million in paintings from the Frazetta Art Museum. The museum is not named after the alleged thief; it’s owned by his father. Frazetta is charged with burglary, criminal trespassing and theft.

Remember the Mattel vs. MGA Entertainment legal dispute over who owned the rights to the Bratz Dolls? (Summaries here, here and here) Mattel had won the battle, obtaining a court order forcing MGA Entertainment to stop selling the dolls and transfer ownership of the dolls to Mattel. Well, a U.S. appeals court has just suspended that order. It’s unclear why the court of appeals did this (presumably based on MGA Entertainment’s motion), but their reasoning is a bit surprising if not shocking. According to the BBC, “judges questioned whether an earlier court ruling had gone too far in awarding ownership of the Bratz range to Mattel, suggesting it was ‘draconian’. They also questioned Mattel’s employment contracts, and ordered both sides to try to come to an agreement on the dispute out of court.”

Andrew Orkin, a Canadian attorney, and Orkin’s family, have sued the Swiss government and a Swiss museum for a Vincent Van Gogh pen-and-ink drawing they say their great-grandmother sold under duress as her family tried to flee the Nazis in their native Germany. Orkin claims Oskar Reinhart, the Swiss art collector who bought the drawing and bequeathed it to the Museum Oskar Reinhart am Stadtgarten, took advantage of his great-grandmorhter’s dire circumstances and bought the drawing for considerably less than its market value.

A Gavin Turk sculpture piece, Revolting Brick, was stolen at Area 10 Project Space in Peckham and replaced with a brick emblazoned with the text, “Thank You Have a Nice Day, Next.” The replacement brick is worth pennies (so far).

The Association for Research into Crimes against Art (ARCA) has posted a study on art crimes and their relationship to organized crime.

In ARCA’s many projects and conferences, those with whom we have worked have conveyed the fact that art crime is the third-highest-grossing criminal trade, behind only drugs and arms, and have underlined with countless examples the links with Organized Crime since 1960.