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.
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…
Droit de Suite (1996)
On 13 March 1996 the European Commission published a proposal for a Directive to harmonise the law throughout the 15 member states of the European Union concerning artists’ resale royalty right, often called the ‘droit de…
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…
The Next Moves Forward, part 2
This month’s Artlaw continues and concludes the exploration of the newly elected Government’s past achievements and future policies in relation to the visual arts, and, in the context of joint European cultural, those policies…
Fundamental Enquiries
A fundamental problem artists continually bring to Artlaw is the need for basic information and advice on how to set up and maintain a ‘business’ as an artist; it’s a question of survival. It has been the aim…
ArtlawTV
A series of short films exploring the main legal issues that artists face. Each film comprises an interview with an artist about their work, with an overview of the legal implications of their practice by Henry Lydiate, art legal…
Licensing
Licensing can be a useful way to earn extra income by permitting other uses of your work in exchange for money What is licensing? When you license your work, you are giving permission to someone else to use your…
Travellers Tales
The international nature of art activity involves many artists and administrators visiting foreign countries, particularly during the summer. Autumn heralds the start of the academic year in art schools and sees art students and lecturers returning, often from…
Posthumous Artworks
Blinky Palermo’s reputation was given a major boost through retrospective exhibitions in Barcelona and at London’s Serpentine Gallery in 2003. This, in turn, has led to funding recently being achieved by Edinburgh College of Art to ‘rescue’ one…
Charitable incorporated organisation
A Charitable Incorporated Organisation, or CIO, is a new legal form for a charity, brought in by the 2011 Charities Act. A CIO: is an incorporated form of charity which is not a company only has to…
Management Of Creativity 30 Years On
In October 1976 the first issue of Art Monthly carried the first Artlaw column. Have things improved, worsened, or stayed pretty much the same over the last 30 years? From Jennie Lee’s appointment as…
When I Paint my Masterpiece
Dear Henry, Recently I was amazed to see a portrait I had painted reproduced photographically on a poster in the city where I live. I managed to acquire a copy of the poster and saw…
Strategies for the Arts
The UK’s general election on May 5 smartly follows the ‘electorate friendly’ annual budget statement made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in March 2005. What will the election manifestos of the UK’s main political parties…
Collective Bargaining
Last month's column focused on the selling power of those few artists whose works have established a strong market value, and their ability to pick and choose – or blacklist – their purchasers or dealers. To redress the…
Money
Income Tax and the achievement and maintenance of self employment or ‘freelance’ status is a recurring theme of these pieces; as is the link between freelance working and claiming welfare benefits (although the names of those benefits have changed…
Working as an artist: part II
On the evening of October 4 1979, in London, Eduardo Paolozzi (EP), his assistant Marlee Robinson (MR), John Hoyland (JH) and Brian Clarke (BC) met and recorded a discussion with lawyer Henry Lydiate (HL)…
Copyright and Moral rights: New legislation (introduction)
On October 30 1987, the Government introduced into the House of Lords the long overdue measure to reform the law of copyright and other intellectual property: The Copyright, Designs and Patents Bill'. It…
What is copyright infringement?
Copyright infringement takes place where there is copying of all or a substantial part of an image – unless a ‘fair dealing’ or ‘substantial part’ exception applies, or unless it is only the ideas or concepts that…