Archive of Henry Lydiate‘s Artlaw column, published in Art Monthly since 1976. Have a legal question about your career? Check our Directory or send us a legal query.
Postmodern Artwork
Just like the proverbial long wait at the bus stop and then three buses come along at once, there has been a bumper crop of recent illuminating copyright lawsuits involving works by artists as diverse as Richard Prince,…
Co-operative
This is a popular structure for community groups, as it shares the responsibility of running the group between members who all have equal rights and shares in the organisation. A co operative is defined by constitution, and may allow…
Partnership
Unlike a limited company, a partnership has no legal existence distinct from the partners themselves. If one of the partners resigns, dies or goes bankrupt, the partnership must be dissolved – although the business can still continue. A partnership…
The Right to Destroy Artwork
Michael Landy’s Break Down installation on London’s Oxford Street opened to the public for two weeks in February 2001, and made national broadcast news headlines following the press view. The work was commissioned by The…
Power Plays: Chimes of Freedom
The attempted censorship of the Power Plays exhibition at the Ferens Art Gallery by Hull City Council in October raises issues of the greatest importance. An explanation of its legal facets will enable us to…
Copyright and Moral rights: New legislation (part 1)
In May or June 1989, visual artists’ and craftspeoples’ rights will be substantially improved when the new Copyright Designs and Patents Act of 1988 comes into force. Key changes anticipated were signposted…
Art & Copyright
Most UK lawyers know little about intellectual property law, because it has never been a compulsory subject for professional qualification. Simon Stokes, Art & Copyright, Hart Publishing, Oxford and Portland, Oregon, 2001, 184pp, £25.00, 1 84113 225…
Who owns Elizabeth Frink?
Elisabeth Frink’s Desert Quartet, 1990, comprises four bronze sculptures commissioned in 1985 by property developers The Avon Group as an integrated external feature of their then new Montague Centre shopping precinct in the coastal town of…
New Administration: Reforms and Innovations
On June 10, the newly elected Government will begin to plan its legislative programme for the next five years. In 1979 this column reported the current state of play in relation to the possible legislative…
About the articles
In 1976, Henry Lydiate, then a newly qualified barrister, received funding from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to set up a practice specifically providing legal advice to visual artists. Artlaw Services provided free information and legal advice to…
Artists Resale Right: 4th Year Report
February 2010 marks the fourth anniversary of the introduction into UK law of the Artist’s Resale Right (ARR). Invented by the French around a century ago, where is it known as droit de suite,…
Wapping Blues
If your memory serves you well, You’ll remember you’re the one That called on me to call on them To get your favours done. And after every plan had failed And there was nothing more to tell, You…
Doing a Deal: Part 2
Last month’s column explored the basics of UK contract law and good practices for artists and galleries conducting negotiations with a view to arriving at a gallery deal. This month we look in more detail…
Artists Bearing Gifts: Revisited
Gifts of work by artists to public institutions are an important and valuable method of promoting wider interest in and access to work, and of acquiring critical endorsement. During the past year, several correspondents have raised…
Commercial Dimensions
The UK's creative industries currently earn £112b a year according to statistics from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, representing a growth rate of 9% annually between 1997 and 2000 (compared to an average of 2.8% for…
The Dali Wrangle
Salvador Dali, a master of Surrealism died in 1989. A dozen or so years later his legacy has caused substantial legal problems of an equally surrealist nature. The litigants are the Gala Salvador Dali Foundation established by…
Conference Consequences
The British Art World is a notoriously diverse and divided community. The Whitechapel Conference organised by Artlaw on Jan 4, 1980, was remarkable in that it attracted an audience made up of a unique cross section of artists…
What materials might I not be allowed to work with in my studio?
You must be aware of the ‘permitted uses’ of your studio. Often the landlord will want you to specify the actual nature of your art practice, as…