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… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Intellectual Property
Subscribe to Intellectual Property RSS FeedGerman 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
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
Christie’s and Sotheby’s Sued over California Resale Rights
Posted in Collections, Intellectual Property, LegislationChristie’s and Sotheby’s were sued this week by several artists (including Chuck Close) as class action plaintiffs, alleging violations of California’s Resale Royalty Act. The Resale Royalty Act is one of the few statutes in the United States recognizing artists’ rights to some of the proceeds of the sale of their works, even after the… Continue Reading
Confession in German Forgery Trial
Posted in Connoisseurship, Forgery, Intellectual Property, RestitutionOn the heels of yesterday’s interruption and pressure from the presiding judge to accept a six-year sentence, the accused leader of a forgery ring in Germany apparently confessed today to 14 forgeries. It’s been reported that he said that he enjoyed fooling collectors and experts. It is anticipated that the other defendants will receive similar… Continue Reading
German Forgery Trial Update-Deal Offered?
Posted in Connoisseurship, Forgery, Intellectual Property, RestitutionWe have been following with interest the trial in Cologne, Germany of four accused forgers. The trial began at the beginning of the month. Wolfgang Beltracchi, 60, is accused of organizing a scam that defrauded art collectors out of millions of dollars. Comedian, actor, and writer Steve Martin is among the most high-profile victims. The… 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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