For students following the various issues we cover here, there is an exciting opportunity next winter. Registration is now open for DePaul University College of Law’s 2015 National Cultural Heritage Law Moot Court Competition in Chicago on February 27-28, 2015. The competition is open to twenty-six two- and three-member student teams from ABA-accredited or provisionally accredited law schools. Schools may register up to two teams.
The 2015 Competition will focus on constitutional challenges to the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 (VARA), 17 U.S.C. § 106A, which protects visual artists’ moral rights of attribution and integrity. The problem will address both a First Amendment and a Fifth Amendment challenge to VARA.
The Center for Art, Museum & Cultural Heritage Law is a national leader for cultural property issues and the law (headed by the renowned Patty Gerstenblith, Morag Kersel, and Lubna El-Gendi), and its events are invariably fascinating and well-run. Moreover, VARA is a fascinating topic that is not as well-known or interpreted as other aspects of copyright law, particularly insofar as its moral rights components are slightly at odds with many other aspects of copyright law. Any students interested in these issues should consider joining the competition.
Visit the competition website at go.depaul.edu/chmoot to register, or contact the Competition Board at chmoot@gmail.com with questions.
