On October 21st, The Law Office of Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento will screen Harun Farocki’s seminal film, Images of the World and the Inscription of War. (1988) 01:17. Germany. B&W and Color.

Christa Blümlinger comments, “the vanishing point of Images of The World is the conceptual image of the ‘blind spot’ of the evaluators of aerial footage of the IG Farben industrial plant taken by the Americans in 1944. Commentaries and notes on the photographs show that it was only decades later that the CIA noticed what the Allies hadn’t wanted to see: that the Auschwitz concentration camp is depicted next to the industrial bombing target. At one point during this later investigation, the image of an experimental wave pool – already visible at the beginning of the film – flashes across the screen, recognizably referring to the biding of the gaze: for one’s gaze and thoughts are not free when machines, in league with science and the military, dictate what is to be investigated. Farocki thereby puts his finger on the essence of media violence, a ‘terrorist aesthetic’ (Paul Virilio) of optic stimulation, which today appears on control panels as well as on television, with its admitted goal of making the observer into either an accomplice or a potential victim, as in times of war.”

For more information and tickets, click here.

The Art Law Program (“The Program”) is a semester-long seminar series with a theoretical and philosophical focus on the effects of law and jurisprudence on cultural production and reception. An examination of how artistic practices challenge, rupture, and change the apparatus of law completes The Program. The Program aims to attract qualified individuals in the areas of visual art, architecture, writing, curating, and law. This list is non-exclusive. Artists with new genre and post-studio practices are especially encouraged to apply, as are lawyers and legal scholars interested in the cultural effects of law. The Art Law Program takes place in New York City and is held in collaboration with Fordham Law School.

Applications are now being accepted. Deadline for applications is December 10, 2012. Application instructions and online form are available here. Seminars begin January 15, 2013.

For more information on the Art Law Program, please click here. For a list of past and current seminar leaders, please click here.

The Copyright Office has been asked by Congress to review how the current copyright legal system affects and supports visual artists; and how a federal resale royalty right for visual artists would affect current and future practices of groups or individuals involved in the creation, licensing, sale, exhibition, dissemination, and preservation of works of visual art.  This initial notice of inquiry seeks comments from the public on the means by which visual artists exploit their works under existing law as well as the issues and obstacles that may be encountered when considering a federal resale royalty right in the United States. Comment accepted until November 5, 2012.

Interestingly, Daniel Grant just recently published an article arguing that the UK resale royalty law has been “pretty irrelevant” to sales.

British artist Lee Merrill Sendall wants to know why the illustrations and concept he presented in 2009 as part of a bid for Arts Council England (ACE) funding appear so similar to the design of part of the Olympic Games opening ceremony.

Thanks to our Twitter followers who prompted this post. We hope Sendall gets to the bottom of this, and if in fact his copyrights were infringed upon under UK law, that he get his due credit and compensation.

Via Arts Professional.

Its addition to the Top Ten Art Crimes list, plus a reward of up to $50,000, will hopefully prompt its return, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.

Via AFP.

The historic murals, done by artist William A. Smith, depict significant events in Maryland’s history and have long hung around the building. According to Explore Harford, Smith’s case is widely cited as one that helped to pave the way for the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990.

So say the dealers of contemporary art in the UK and the auction houses, which have racked up strong prices for Modern and contemporary artworks this past  January and in the recent June sales in London. “We’ve had two very successful seasons,” and the resale royalty law has been “pretty irrelevant,” according to a spokesman for Christie’s.

Daniel Grant, writing for the Huffington Post, adds, “Worries about the law’s effect have struck many in the trade as theoretical rather than actual.”