Tacheles, the grungy Berlin art center housed in a derelict former department store that became a trashy symbol of the capital’s post-unification freedom, was cleared on Tuesday after years of legal wrangling between the owners and the occupants. “This is art theft under police protection,” said artist Martin Reiter.

Via Spiegel Online.

According to Syracuse University’s TRAC Reports, “[f]ederal copyright lawsuits have been rising over the last two years, but are still lower in July 2012 than they were for the same period five years ago.” New York’s Southern District Court ranks second in this study, having previously held steady at number one.

Study available here.

to Clancco. We’re seven years old today. A huge thanks to all of our readers and followers. Here’s to 100 more!

I just published a brief article in the most recent Art Asia Pacific, The Adversarial Game Widens, concerning global art making and art law. Here’s a taste.

Earlier this year, Apple Inc. agreed to pay Proview Technology Shenzhen-a China-based subsidiary of Taiwan’s Proview Electronics-USD 60 million to avoid a protracted legal dispute over the iPad trademark in China. This past May, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit heard oral arguments regarding Richard Prince’s appeal on the standing Cariou v. Prince (2011) copyright infringement decision, which held that Prince’s unauthorized use of French photographer Patrick Cariou’s photographs was not fair use under US law.

Intellectual property issues aside, it would seem that these two cases have little in common. Yet although they are different in medium and industry, they signal the kinds of forthcoming legal battles between Asian and American artistic communities over cultural and aesthetic property rights.

You may access the entire article at Art Asia Pacific online here, and it’s free!

Yes, you heard right. 50 years after Warhol’s first show at the LA-based Ferus Gallery, where he first unveiled the Campbell Soup paintings, Campbell’s is licensing the right to make derivative works based on four of Warhol’s Campbell Soup paintings. Campbell’s is using the four “derivative” images as labels to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Warhol’s first solo show at Ferus. The new cans will be sold at most Target stores nationwide for 75 cents per can.

Mike Madison wonders, “[i]t’s unclear to me what, exactly, is being licensed[,]” wondering if “style” can be licensed. True enough. If Campbell’s already owns the copyright and trademarks to the Campbell’s Soup label and logo, they don’t need to ask anyone for permission to use their own image, much less a license. I wonder, can an artistic “style” be protected by trademark, or trade dress?

Perhaps Campbell’s intends to promote their cans using Warhol’s image and name, so that may be a factor.  But, I wonder if this is more of a publicity stunt by both Campbell’s and the Warhol Foundation, with a strong pro-licensing bent to boot. Get it? No need for cease-and-desists and copyright litigation; just pay to play and all will be alright. What do you think?

More via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Including two Group of Seven paintings.

Life for modern artists in China is not easy. Imprisonment, hefty fines and travel bans are just some of the intimidation tactics the state police use to silence those critical of the regime. But Beijing artist Zhao Zhao, once an assistant to artist Ai Weiwei, refuses to bend to the pressure.

Via Spiegel Online.