The Velvet Underground and the Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts have settled their lawsuit over the right to control iconic “banana” image from the cover of the 1967 legendary The Velvet Underground and Nico album. An earlier September 7, 2012 ruling for the Warhol Foundation finding that that the Velvet Underground had agreed not to sue… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Copyright
Subscribe to Copyright RSS FeedCopyright Office Holds Hearing on Resale Royalty Legislation
Posted in Copyright, Intellectual PropertyThe 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… Continue Reading
No Infringement in Cariou v. Prince—Second Circuit Plays Art Critic and Finds Fair Use
Posted in CopyrightTwo years after a U.S. District Court decision that sent shock waves through the contemporary art world, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed that earlier finding that Richard Prince infringed the copyright of Patrick Cariou. Instead, the appeals court ruled that all but five Prince works at issue were fair use under the Copyright… Continue Reading
New Sullivan & Worcester Advisory: Supreme Court Responds to Museums’ Concerns in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Posted in CopyrightThe Sullivan & Worcester LLP Art and Museum Law Group has issued a new client advisory about the Supreme Court’s decision in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. As analyzed in the advisory, the Court has extended the “first sale” doctrine of the U.S. Copyright Act to copies of protected works that were lawfully… Continue Reading
“Clark Rockefeller” Picture Ruling Addresses Copyrightable Elements of News Photographs
Posted in CopyrightThe First Circuit Court of Appeals has decided a copyright case that addresses the important elements of what constitutes an expressive work capable of protection. The lines of what can be protected in news photography may not be as simple as the First Circuit opinion suggests. In 2008 the bizarre case of Christian Gerhartsreiter—a man… Continue Reading
German Art Law Updates from the Dispute Resolution in Germany Blog
Posted in Copyright, Forgery, Intellectual PropertyFor 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… Continue Reading
Copyright Office is Seeking Comment on Resale Royalty Legislation
Posted in CopyrightThe Art Law Report’s very first post was on the revival of efforts to pass federal legislation on resale royalties, yet there was little movement after that. Earlier this year, the California Resale Royalty Act was struck down on constitutional grounds, a case now on appeal. As a possible sign of movement, the Copyright has… Continue Reading
Happy (early) Birthday to the Art Law Report!
Posted in Collections, Copyright, Cultural Property, Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Immunity from Seizure Act, RestitutionWe launched the Art Law Report one year ago tomorrow. Several dozen posts, thousands of visitors and many more views later, a very special thank you to everyone who has read and followed the blog. The connections made literally all around the world are humbling and enlightening. We continue to strive to provide an interesting… Continue Reading
Velvet Underground’s Copyright Claim Against Warhol Foundation is Dismissed, Trademark Case Goes On
Posted in Copyright, Intellectual Property, TrademarkThe 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… Continue Reading
California Law Struck Down as Unconstitutional: U.S. District Court Dismisses California Resale Royalty Act Case against Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and eBay
Posted in Collections, Copyright, Intellectual Property, LegislationConsistent 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… Continue Reading
Golan v. Holder—Foreign Works in Public Domain Back Under Copyright
Posted in Copyright, Intellectual PropertyThe 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… Continue Reading
Cariou Files Appeals Brief—Is this Case Less Transformative Than It Seemed?
Posted in Copyright, Intellectual Property, UncategorizedPatrick Cariou has filed his much-anticipated responsive brief in the Richard Prince/Gagosian Gallery copyright infringement appeal. Cariou’s brief makes its stand on the question of transformative use. The degree to which a derivative work is transformative of a protected work is, of course, a central element of a fair use analysis about which Prince will have to persuade… Continue Reading
Public Domain Rights and Copyright Clash Over The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind
Posted in Copyright, Intellectual PropertyThe 8th Circuit recently weighed in on the topic of public domain images and copyrighted characters. As my colleagues Kimberly Herman, Michael Matzka and Laura Stacey explore in greater detail in an advisory about the decision, a number of merchandisers were using images from public domain posters and lobby cards from movies like The Wizard of Oz, Gone with… Continue Reading
Prince Copyright Appeal: Warhol Foundation Makes the Case to Reverse Infringement Finding
Posted in Copyright, Intellectual PropertyAfter several months of inactivity, the first brief is available in the Richard Prince appeal of the judgment against him and the Gagosian Gallery earlier this year for infringing on the works of Patrick Cariou. Prince’s arguments of “fair use” of Cariou’s photographs failed to persuade the District Court and the infringing works were ordered… Continue Reading
Richard Prince Copyright Appeal Survives Cariou Motion to Dismiss
Posted in Copyright, Intellectual PropertyThe Richard Prince copyright case is in the news again, though probably more than it deserves. Patrick Cariou, whose photographs Prince was found this spring to have infringed, moved to dismiss Prince’s appeal arguing that the injunction concerning the impoundment and destruction of the existing works (Prince was ordered to deliver them for destruction) was… Continue Reading
Resale Royalty Legislation Revived
Posted in Copyright, Intellectual Property, Legislation, TrademarkPicking up a torch last carried by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, lobbying efforts are underway to enact into U.S. federal law a droit de suite right enjoyed in the U.K. and elsewhere, that is, a right for an artist to be compensated upon subsequent sales of his or her work. American law has long… Continue Reading
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