Wednesday, July 18, 2018

"G.M. Used Graffiti in a Car Ad. Should the Artist Be Paid?"

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The New York Times reports : "Mr. Falkner’s case is set to turn on another unsettled question of copyright law. Last month, lawyers f...
Saturday, July 14, 2018

"A new criminal case was recently opened in Geneva after a fraud complaint was filed in late 2015 by an unnamed industrialist from the Baltic region, who has accused an art dealer of overcharging for works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Alberto Giacometti."

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" This may sound like a familiar story, but it has nothing to do with the battle between Yves Bouvier and Dmitry Rybolovlev. "

"Monterey’s Dalí17, which displays the 500-work private collection of the Ukrainian-born real estate developer Dimitry Piterman, features the Surrealist’s face—complete with upturned moustache—on its logo."

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The Art Newspaper:  Dalí foundation sues California museum for use of artist’s name and image . Brandon Butler tweets :  "This lawsui...

"Now Ms. Columbus, 43, has filed a complaint with the New York City Commission on Human Rights, asserting the museum discriminated against her in violation of the city’s laws on caregivers, pregnancy and women’s rights."

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NYT:  Curator Says MoMA PS1 Wanted Her, Until She Had a Baby . Paddy Johnson comments here .

"The Wayfair decision looks like a sales tax game-changer for many New York galleries."

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Says Tom Danziger in this artnet piece on a recent Supreme Court decision involving the power of states to require out-of-state sellers to ...

"Having determined that the face of plaintiff’s sculpture is distinct, original, and protected, we find that defendant’s use was infringing."

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Here's an interesting one:  the US Postal Service owes an artist $3.5 million for using what they thought was a photo of the Statue of ...

Berkshire Update

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At the Center for Art Law, Jennie Nadel has a good summary of where things stand. The Berkshire Eagle says a " new era " for th...

More on the California Resale Royalty Decision

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Lots of coverage over the last week.  Nicholas O'Donnell has a very good, comprehensive overview of the twists and turns the case has t...
Friday, July 06, 2018

"Our decision today means the CRRA had a short effective life."

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BREAKING:  Ninth Circuit rules that the California resale royalty law is preempted by the 1976 Copyright Act (so -- at most -- the plaintif...
Tuesday, June 26, 2018

"Sir Anish Kapoor’s Clenched Fist of Copyright, the Battle Over Fair Use, and the NRA"

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Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento, writing at Hyperallergic , on Anish Kapoor's lawsuit against the NRA. Related:  Mike Masnick at Techdirt: ...
Friday, June 22, 2018

"But the imperious demands of a multimillionaire who no longer wants to wait cannot trump the plain and unambiguous language of the Purchase Agreements, which do not require Mr. Koons to create the Works by any specified deadline."

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Artnews:   Gagosian Gallery Files Motion to Dismiss Steven Tananbaum’s Jeff Koons ‘Non-Delivery’ Lawsuit . This is the one with the ourobo...

"Anish Kapoor Sues NRA for Copyright Infringement of Bean Sculpture"

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Artnews story here .  They use it in an ad. Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento thinks Kapoor is trying to use copyright to censor speech. IP profes...

"In such a polarised climate, should auction houses and dealers not pay their dues to the artists from whom they profit?"

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In The Art Newspaper last week, Anny Shaw uses P. Diddy's recent purchase at auction of a Kerry James Marshall painting for $21 million ...
Thursday, June 14, 2018

"A New York City real estate developer who demolished the famed graffiti space 5Pointz won't get a new trial, after a federal judge Wednesday issued a scathing opinion that blasted the owner for lying in court and other 'egregious behavior.'"

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Law360:   No New Trial Over 5Pointz Graffiti Destruction, Judge Says : "The ruling paves the way for Wolkoff to take the case to the ...
Tuesday, June 12, 2018

"The court found the graffiti was 'never fully visible, let alone legible,' even when the video was paused, because it appeared on screen for less than three seconds, in the background, at an oblique angle, and in low, uneven light."

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Frankfurt Kurnit's Brian Murphy on the dismissal of a recent copyright case on de minimis grounds.  Full decision here .

"Shane Campbell Looks to File a $15 Million Class Action Lawsuit Against Frieze for ‘Unbearable’ Heat" (UPDATED)

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Story here . UPDATE:  Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento tweets :  "Guess the $10 Starbucks gift card wasn’t enough?"
Friday, June 08, 2018

"I spent hours researching it, and I concluded that Arcis is a tax-free zone in search of a tax.”

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A Longreads read on the new "freeport" in Harlem.

"This action arises from a greedy, malevolent, fraudulent, bad-faith and (unfortunately) successful scheme to financially devastate the Estate and, indirectly, Belinda, by destroying the value of the Estate’s most valuable asset — Jean-Michel Basquiat’s masterpiece, ‘Flesh and Spirit.'"

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The next round in a dispute over a Basquiat sold at Sotheby's last month. For round one, see here . The painting sold for $30.7 milli...
Wednesday, June 06, 2018

Because we said so, that's why

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I've been meaning to link to the AAMD's statement regarding their imposition of sanctions on the Berkshire Museum and the La Salle ...

"In its present form, the AAM’s deaccessioning policy hinders—rather than facilitates—access to one of America’s greatest sources of cultural capital: the art museum."

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Outdated Rules Are Killing Museums—Here’s How Things Can Change .