The legal dispute between the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust and Rick Norsigian, the man who bought glass-plate negatives at a garage sale in Fresno 10 years ago and attempted to prove that they were the work of famed photographer Ansel Adams, has now been settled out of court.

More here from The Bay Citizen. Thanks to Luis Nieto Dickens for the heads up on this one.

In a highly unusual legal maneuver by a U.S. museum seeking to retain recent acquisition, the St. Louis Museum of Art (SLAM) filed a complaint in federal district court on February 15, 2011 asking for a declaratory judgment to prevent federal authorities from seizing a 19th Dynasty Egyptian mask popularly known as Ka-Nefer-Nefer.

More facts on this case available via Safe Corner.

Last week I mentioned an art law event at USC, The Business of Art: A Forecast for 2011. Jacqueline Lechtholz-Zey, sent us an overview of the event. Jackie is currently a third year law student at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles and is passionate about fashion and art law. She interns at Sheppard Mullin where she has the opportunity to pursue these interests.

Her overview:

“Sunny.” That was art lawyer Christine Steiner’s response to the million dollar question at Tuesday night’s panel: “what is your forecast for the business of art in 2011?”

On March 8, the USC Art Law Society and Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP brought together a diverse panel of speakers who are at the front line of business and legal developments in the art world.  We gathered for a courtyard reception outside of USC’s beautiful Fisher Gallery and then reconvened inside, seated and surrounded by Sylvia Shap’s lively portraits while our panelists shared their insights.

Pam Kohanchi, assistant general counsel at LACMA, represented the institutional perspective. Christine Steiner has an extensive art law practice with a wide variety of creative clients and practice areas.  Addison Liu, the co-founder of HVW8 Art + Design Gallery, was Senior Counsel of Music Affairs at MGM Studios and today uses that background to further the spirit of collaboration between art, music, and design at his gallery.  Last but not least, Jessica Kantor, an associate in the Art Law Practice Group at Sheppard Mullin, moderated the panel, asking thoughtful and engaging questions of our speakers.

So what is a day in the life like for these lawyers in the arts?

Read the rest of this entry »

That’s right, it’s not over. The Associated Press is not done with Shepard Fairey and his Obey Clothing Company. The AP has also filed three new federal lawsuits against retail clothing giants Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom and Zumiez. The crux of the lawsuits is of course the now infamous Obama Hope poster image, which the AP alleges infringes on their copyright of an Obama photograph. The AP also alleges that it was Obey Clothing Company that supplied the three clothing giants with the clothing bearing the Obama Hope poster image.

The AP’s Paul Colford had this to say:

“When a commercial entity such as these retailers, or the company that sold the shirts to them, gets something for nothing by using an AP photo without credit or compensation, it undermines the AP’s ability to cover the news and devalues the work that our journalists do, often in dangerous locations where they may literally risk life and limb to cover a story[.]”

Something makes me think that Fairey regrets ever having created this poster. Nothing but a nightmare.

More here from Adweek.

They certainly can be threatening and imposing. Hyperallergic’s Cat Weaver has a fun and informative article on cease and desist letters (C&Ds) and the irony and hypocrisy to them. She takes on the recent Jeff Koons balloon-dog fiasco, as well as the hypocrisy behind Shepard Fairey’s use of C&D letters.

The balloon dog debacle is just the latest in a string of increasingly ridiculous cease-and-desist cases in the art world. In March of 2009, Shepard Fairey’s lawyers took designer Larkin Werner to task for using the trademarked word “OBEY” on some of his Steeler Baby merchandise. …When Werner began marketing Steeler Baby items on CafePress, he used the word ‘OBEY’ on some of the items. That’s how he caught the eye of Fairey’s legal team, which then sent its cease-and-desist letter to CaféPress. CaféPress then removed the offending items and informed Werner of the embargo.

Weaver’s article is not a commentary on dismissing C&D letters; rather, it serves as a reminder that although artists should take such letters seriously, the absurdity lies in the hypocrisy underlying their aggressive — and at times baseless — use by contemporary artists who themselves make a living stealing other artists’ ideas and art works.

Weaver’s article, in full, here.

Some in Florida seem to believe it should be so. Or do they? Seems to me that what the proposed Florida law would hinder would be nothing more than trespass.The proposed Florida bill states that any person caught entering a farm or agricultural property commits a first degree felony. A first-degree felony in Florida is punishable by up to 30 years in prison, 30 years probation, and a $10,000 fine.

Constitutional? Perhaps not if it’s meant to stifle free speech. What about enforcement via property releases? Maybe this is all the law does; give farmers a “right of publicity” over their farm animals. But aren’t some of the farm animals viewable from public space? Would that matter?

More via The Florida Tribune here. A huge thanks to our friend Jenn Neilson for the heads up on this one.

Marina Abramovic has won a two-year legal action against a French film-maker who committed copyright infringement by making two films, mainly based on her 1992 Biography piece, that misrepresented her work. Paris’s superior court also ruled that Abramovic is the co-author of the works in question—The Star (1998) and Balkan Baroque (1998)—which were directed by Pierre Coulibeuf and produced by Paris-based Regards Productions. Coulibeuf and Regards Productions were ordered to pay Abramovic over $150,000 in damages.

The Art Newspaper has more here.