Images at issue. We conclude … that all four factors favor [Lynn] Goldsmith and that [Warhol’s] Prince Series works are not fair use as a matter of law. We further conclude that the Prince Series works are substantially similar to the Goldsmith Photograph as a matter of law. Here's my take. The 2nd Cir ruled that if the secondary work serves the same purpose as the first, in our case, both as works of visual art, and if the dominant component of the copyrighted works remains in the secondary work, then there is no transformativeness. This ruling is devastating to some art folk ...
If you're still lost as to what the fundamentals of NFTs are, I explain it here in an art & law essay from 2008, including how NFT's are really not anything new but rather just another property right, albeit one that could revolutionize art.
After hearing that Metro Pictures gallery would close at the end of this year, I woke this morning thinking of an interview I did with artist and dean of the CalArts School of Arts, Tom Lawson, almost 15 years ago, which contains Lawson's poignant thoughts on the origins of Metro Pictures.
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?
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.
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.
More here.
I bit flippant, I know. But see the post below. Here we have yet another guerrilla-style “artist” attempting to use intellectual property to safeguard his assets. How Che Guevara!
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.
The ruling is under appeal.
More here.
Southampton, the glitzy vacation destination on the eastern end of New York’s Long Island, now requires landlords of storefronts that have been vacant at least a month to join with local artists to liven up these typically dreary eyesores with art installations.
There’s a catch of course. The art cannot “make political statements or potentially offend children.”
Compelled speech?
The buyer “didn’t send the payment to an escrow account—which was not unusual, given the old-fashioned agreements the art world still relies on.” The buyer explains that this choice was due to “the strong referral from a trusted friend, the need to act quickly…”
The art dealer “lied, fabricated email correspondence, and faked bank transfers, but she also made real payment of deposit and restoration, and shipping costs,” the buyer says.
If I had a dollar for every time this kind of mess happens, I would own the Dallas Cowboys by now.
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.
More here.
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