As we reported back in February, the State Assembly and Senate are considering parallel versions of an amendment to the New York Arts & Cultural Affairs Law that would enhance protections for art authenticators by raising the burden of proof and providing for prevailing-party attorneys’ fees. Our view was, and remains, that the law would be an improvement on the status quo because it would protect the player that often has the least upside in an authentication but who may find herself the target of the disappointed party’s wrath.
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Topics: Donn Zaretsky, Andy Warhol Foundation, Art in America, Daniel Grant, New York State Assembly, authentication, Tracy Zwick, American Rule, Bill No. A09016, Art Law Day, New York Observer, clear and convincing evidence, Wolfgang Beltracchi, Art Law Committee, Chagall Committee, Appraisers Association of America, Keith Haring Foundation, New York Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, New York City Bar Association, authenticator, M. Knoedler & Co., Chagall, Senate Bill No. S06794
A pair of recent disputes over sculpture, fair use and moral rights highlights the ongoing concern that Prince v. Cariou has made things worse, not better. The first concerns the estate of sculptor David Smith, and sculptor Lauren Clay. As Art in America put it, “Clay's works replicate the shapes of Smith's large metal ‘Cubi’ sculptures at tabletop scale in materials such as paper, and with faux wood grain or marble finishes.’ The Smith estate, through its reprsentatives at VAGA, took issue with this as a violation of Smith’s copyright. During the discussion, VAGA apparently proposed an agreement in which Clay would agree either not to sell the works, or only to display them with a disclaimer that the works were not authorized.
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Topics: Donn Zaretsky, Yellow Submarine, Art in America, La Grande Vitesse, Prince v. Cariou, the Donald Smith Estate, Visual Artists Rights Act, Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento, VARA, Alexander Calder, Copyright, Fair Use, Lauren Clay, David Dodde
