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Lauren Clay, the David Smith Estate, David Dodde, and Fair Use: Are We Learning Anything?

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on October 18, 2013 at 11:07 AM

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, intellectual property, Fair Use, Lauren Clay, David Dodde

IBA Annual Conference Starts Today in Boston

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on October 6, 2013 at 7:30 AM

I’ll be at the International Bar Association Conference all week here in Boston, starting tonight. Among others, I’m looking forward to the sessions below (the first featuring my partner at Sullivan & Worcester, Laura Steinberg, the trademark panel featuring my partner at Sullivan & Worcester Kim Herman, and others given by the Art, Cultural Institutions and Heritage Law Committee). If you follow the Art Law Report and you’ll be in attendance, welcome to Boston, and drop a line or a Tweet.

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Topics: Laura Steinberg, Annual Conference, Kim Herman, Trademark, Sullivan & Worcester LLP, Events, Copyright, Boston, intellectual property, IBA, International Bar Association

Fair Use and Social Utility: Google Books Case Could Drive Copying of Visual Arts in the Name of Access

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on September 30, 2013 at 5:15 AM

Comments by the federal judge overseeing the copyright dispute arising out of the Google Books project could portend a lasting effect on reproductions of visual arts. Elevating the question of social benefit in a fair use analysis, Judge Denny Chin of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York posed a question that, applied broadly (which is no theoretical proposition where Google is involved) could turn fair use analysis on its head. Time will tell if the comments were oral argument musings or something more lasting.

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Topics: Google Books, 17 U.S.C. § 107, Copyright, The Authors Guild, intellectual property, Judge Denny Chin, Fair Use

Coverage of Lessig "Lisztomania" DCMA Takedown Lawsuit Continues

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on September 27, 2013 at 5:10 AM

News media have started to pick up on the lawsuit filed in August by Lawrence Lessig, which challenges takedown notice practices by Liberation Music under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (the “DMCA”) in relation to Lessig's lecture series later posted on YouTube, which featured third party content creators and the song "Lisztomania" by the French band Phoenix, whose copyrights Liberation apparently claims it enforces.

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Topics: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Lawrence Lessig, Lisztomania, Copyright, intellectual property, Liberation Music Pty Ltd

Cariou Petitions Supreme Court to Review Richard Prince Fair Use Decision

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on September 4, 2013 at 9:21 AM

Patrick Cariou, after winning his copyright claim against Richard Prince in the District Court in 2011, suffered a stinging reversal earlier this year when the Second Circuit found in Prince’s favor as to his use of Cariou’s Yes, Rasta series in the Prince Canal Zone collages. The Second Circuit decision has been widely derided by copyright analysts, who apart from the relative merits of Cariou vs. Prince found the decision unclear as guidance to future artists and copyright holders. For the Art Law Report’s coverage of the case, click here.

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Topics: Cariou v. Prince, Richard Prince, Roy Orbison, Canal Zone, Patrick Cariou, Campbell v. Acuff Rose Music Inc., Yes Rasta, intellectual property

Copyright Office Holds Hearing on Resale Royalty Legislation

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on May 14, 2013 at 11:57 AM

The United States Copyright Office solicited public comment last year on possible droite de suite, or resale royalty legislation. As addressed previously, state law attempts to regulate artists’ rights to resale royalties have been struck down as unconstitutional. Among the issues that the Copyright Office grappled with is the basic question of incentive: if a copyright royalty were paid on sales subsequent to the first sale, what effect does that have on the economic incentive to create art? Who benefits? Who is harmed?

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Topics: Resale Royalties, Copyright Act, Resale Royalty, Copyright, intellectual property, Copyright Office, Calinfornia Resale Royalty Act

German Art Law Updates from the Dispute Resolution in Germany Blog

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on November 1, 2012 at 7:36 AM

For those of us trying to follow art law developments in Germany, particularly to get access to original source and court documents in German, Peter Bert’s Dispute Resolution in Germany Blog is a terrific source. Between the Hans Sachs collection case and the contuing fallout from the Wolfgang Beltracchi forgery scandal and the fictional “Jägers Collection,” Germany has had a busy year of art law prominence, particularly with regard to forgery issues. Two recent posts bear reading, both of which attach the original court opinions in German, for their interesting analysis.

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Topics: Forgery, Lempertz, Jörg Immendorf, Peter Bert, Germany, Hans Sachs, Rotes Bild mit Pferden, Wolfgang Beltracchi, Dispute Resolution in Germany, Red Painting with Horses, Copyright, Heinrich Campendonk, Jägers Collection, intellectual property

Velvet Underground’s Copyright Claim Against Warhol Foundation is Dismissed, Trademark Case Goes On

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on September 12, 2012 at 11:36 AM

The U.S. District Court in Manhattan has dismissed the copyright claim filed by the Velvet Underground against the Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts over the iconic “banana” image from the cover of the legendary The Velvet Underground and Nico album. Without reaching the merits of the claim, the court ruled that the Velvet Underground had agreed previously not to sue on any copyright theories. Reporting of the decision has been spotty at best, however, ranging from declaring a “win” for the Foundation, to suggestions that the copyright question was decided. In fact, the Court did not reach the copyright issue, and the Velvet Underground still has other trademark-based claims that remain very much alive and unaffected by the decision.

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Topics: Trademark, banana, Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Copyright, The Velvet Underground and Nico, the Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol, intellectual property, Nico

California Law Struck Down as Unconstitutional: U.S. District Court Dismisses California Resale Royalty Act Case against Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and eBay

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on May 18, 2012 at 5:08 AM

Consistent with expectations after reports from the court hearing in March, the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles dismissed the case brought by artist Chuck Close and others that alleged violations of the California Resale Royalty Act (the “CRRA”) by Sotheby’s, Christie’s and eBay, and ruled that the CRRA is unconstitutional in its entirety. Similar claims against eBay were also dismissed in a shorter opinion referencing the Sotheby’s and Christie’s decision.

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Topics: Legislation, Resale Royalties, Chuck Close, Commerce Clause, Christie's, California Legislative Council, Dormant Commerce Clause, Collections, California Resale Royalty Act, Copyright, Jacqueline H. Nguyen, Sotheby's, intellectual property, eBay

Golan v. Holder—Foreign Works in Public Domain Back Under Copyright

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on March 7, 2012 at 8:57 AM

The Art and Museum Law Group issued today a client advisory on the implications of Golan v. Holder.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld in Golan v. Holder the constitutionality of a U.S. statute (§ 514 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)) that “restored” U.S. copyright protection to millions of foreign-authored works that, for much of the twentieth century, had none at all. The Court found no constitutional bar to making foreign works that once were free of copyright protection now subject to the full regime of rights. The decision raises far-reaching implications for anyone who has copied, sold, or otherwise published foreign works of the 20th century that were assumed to be in the public domain, and raises anew the importance of considering the various layers of copyright protection that follow a single work.

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Topics: Uruguay Round Agreements Act of the World Trade Or, WTO, Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual, Public Domain, Foreign Works, Copyright, Golan v. Holder, intellectual property, TRIPS

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About the Blog


The Art Law Report provides timely updates and commentary on legal issues in the museum and visual arts communities. It is authored by Nicholas M. O'Donnell, partner in our Art & Museum Law Practice.

The material on this site is for general information only and is not legal advice. No liability is accepted for any loss or damage which may result from reliance on it. Always consult a qualified lawyer about a specific legal problem.

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