Lawyers often get accused of being “too risk-averse” and wearing belts and suspenders. Well, maybe there’s a reason for that.

Two words: substantial similarity. Interesting fact pattern though; makes for a good movie itself. Disney, if you’re listening…

“Vandalism of any kind to our public art, not only affects the community’s enjoyment of the piece but also harms Qatar’s cultural heritage,” Abdullatif Al Jasmi, the director of cultural heritage protection at Qatar Museums, said in a statement. Al Jasmi explained that the organization is working with partners to institute a new Cultural Heritage Law, “which will build on existing regulations to strengthen the protection of arts and culture in the country.”

The damage, which appears to be recent, will be cleaned up by Qatar Museums.

This conversation/interview took place on October 25, 2018 in New York City. People have commented how they enjoy listening to it so I thought I’d revisit it now.

From the archives:

Hrag Vertanian of Hyperallergic invited me to join him to talk about the evolving world of art law and discuss why I went to law school as an art project, what I think about some recent sensational cases (Richard Prince/Instagram, Sam Durant at the Walker Art Center, and the recent Banksy auction stunt) and my thoughts on how appropriation has changed from the 1970s.

The October 25, 2018 podcast is available here.

Pamela Samuelson, Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley and a Co-Director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, asked this morning on Twitter.

Some of the “living rooms” include those of shows Friends, Stranger Things, and The Simpsons.

James Oliever’s list of claims is long: including “that Boone sold a $10 million Brice Marden painting, among others, and diverted the funds to her personal account to pay off IRS penalties, and told Oliver that she’d need the money when she got out of prison; that more than $5 million worth of other paintings, possibly including works by Barbara Kruger and Kaws, are believed to be stored at Boone’s residence…”

More here.

The Instagram account holders will remove the two offending posts concerning Gupta’s alleged sexual harassment and would express “regret.” In return, Gupta said he would drop his defamation case and his demands for financial recompense, and wouldn’t push for the account holders to publicly testify.

More here.