Derrick Coetzee, an administrator of Wikimedia Commons (the media repository for Wikipedia) is being threatened with a copyright infringement lawsuit by the National Portrait Gallery in London, specifically, their legal counsel, Farrer & Co LLP.
Our client contacted the Wikimedia Foundation in April 2009 to request that the images be removed but the Wikimedia Foundation has refused to do so leaving our client with no option but to commence legal proceedings against you personally through the UK Courts.
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July 13th, 2009 by Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento in
Criminal
Fairey was sentenced to two years of probation Friday after pleading guilty to three vandalism charges. Prosecutors dropped 11 other charges. Fairey pleaded guilty in Boston Municipal Court to one charge of defacing property and two charges of wanton destruction of property under $250, all misdemeanors.
A faithful Clancco readers sends us this interesting bit from The Christian Science Monitor concerning a guerilla artist and his prosecution. Albeit somewhat dated, better late than never.
With more than 3,000 people from as far away as Korea and Brazil joining a Facebook group calling for charges to be thrown out, [Joe] Carnevale’s monster stunt touches on the growing legitimacy and celebrity of guerrilla artists. In many ways, sympathy for Carnevale stems from a cultural resistance to authority and the celebration of harmless fun in the face of overly serious prosecutors.
16 year old graffiti artist Cartrain walked in to the Tate Briton (London) early last week and removed a packet of pencils from one of Damien Hirsts exhibits. Damien Hirst and Cartrain have a long standing rocky history. Earlier this year Hirst targeted the young graffiti artist Cartrain using Design and Artists Copyright Society (DAC’s) for copyright infringement on his latest series of artworks being sold on 100artworks.com.
Cartrain is a 16 year artist whose work can be found mostly in backstreets of East London’s Brick Lane and Old Street. Cartrain’s left wing stencils and collages often contain recognisable figures such as George Bush and the Queen.
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June 30th, 2009 by Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento in
Art Law
Bombarded by lawsuits accusing him of fraud in connection with the Madoff scandal (including one from New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo), New York financier J. Ezra Merkin and his wife have arranged to sell their collection of paintings by abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, as well as some valuable sculptures by Alberto Giacometti. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “[a]n anonymous buyer has agreed to pay $310 million for the trove…[.]”
Just last month, a delegation from the Ngarrindjeri tribe collected three skulls from Oxford University, acquired in the 1860s. When Ngarrindjeri elder Major Sumner, his body painted in ochres, conducted the formal handover ceremony on the university lawns, he felt a sense of satisfaction. “It’s a big accomplishment, not only for us but for Oxford University, as it’s the first time they’ve agreed to repatriate,” says Sumner. “It sends a clear message to other British institutions. Why do they need to hold on to our ‘old people’?”
The Guardian has the entire story here.
Police say 14 photographs worth $42,000 have been stolen from an exhibit at the Kimball-Jenkins Estate in Concord, N.H. The stolen pieces were among 20 black-and-white photos taken by Michael Garlington, a northern California photographer.
