Up Against the Wall: part 2
Moral Abuses Moral, as opposed to economic, abuse cases are prevalent. One was discussed in last month’s AM issue, and here are some more. Each is a true story. Not satisfied with a completed…
Loans and finance
Loans, overdrafts, credit cards, mortgages, micro loans are all forms of ‘debt finance’. Money is borrowed from a lender then repaid over a period of time, usually with interest. The total amount repaid is always more than…
Artist resale rights
Whenever a musician sells a track, they receive a small payment from the transaction. This is called a royalty. Since 2006, when an artwork is resold on the secondary market for over €1,000, the artist gets a…
Breaking the Rules
As an art lawyer, Warhol’s death provoked in me serious thoughts about art and money, including the rules of the marketplace. Between thought and expression Lies a lifetime. * And though the rules of the road have…
ArtlawTV: Simon Faithfull on Art and Ideas
Art and Ideas – what does copyright law recognise as art? Artists sometimes report their work has been seemingly ripped off and used in other ways without their consent – but what is…
Gallery Agreements
Artists – grateful for the offer of a ‘gallery deal’ – are understandably reluctant to request the use of a written agreement during negotiations, since this might jeopardise their chances. In this column during the past months, the…
New UK Copyright Provisions from 31 October 2003
The owner of copyright in an original ‘artistic’ work has the exclusive right to copy the work, and issue copies to the public. Please note that this article was not published in…
Commercial gallery relationships
Commercial galleries are businesses that aim to sell art. It’s important to understand their motivations, their staff and practices. This will help negotiate a mutually beneficial agreement. Reflection Before you begin your hunt for a gallery reflect…
Attribution of Authorship: Warhol
On 15 January 2010 another federal lawsuit was filed in New York City against The Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board. The first lawsuit was filed in 2007 by a London based collector, Joe Simon; the recent…
Unincorporated Association
An unincorporated association is a legally recognised form of organisation, and the easiest to set up. It is formed of a number of individuals – who are each responsible for their own tax arrangements, perhaps under self employment…
Law Online: Artquest
From April 2003, the Artlaw articles published in this column over the past 26 years will be available online at www.artquest.org.uk. Artquest was established in December 2001 to provide advice and information to London’s professional visual artists…
Is Your Copying Right?
An important and valuable one day seminar entitled ‘Copyright: Is Your Copying Right?’ was recently organised by the Institute of Art and Law, in association with the Art Newspaper and artlaw specialist solicitors Stephens Innocent. The…
Artlaw Services – A National Legal Service for the Arts
It is not widely remembered that William Hogarth, amongst his many other achievements, was the prime sponsor of a copyright statute, the Engravers' Copyright Act of 1735 – better known…
Shamrock Organisations
Gustave Courbet’s huge 20ft wide by 12ft high oil painting, The Painter’s Studio (A Real Allegory of Seven Years of My Life), 1855, represents among other things his view of the (then) new role of the artist in…
Dear Henry…
The recent articles on copyright brought the following correspondence, (genuinely received, but here suitably disguised to safeguard the artists concerned), which provides useful and intriguing illustrations of copyright law in operation. Dear Henry, I wonder if you would…
Dear Images
Dear Images: art, copyright and culture, eds Daniel McClean and Karsten Schubert, ICA and Ridinghouse, London, 2002, 503pp, b/w illus, pb, £25, 0 9541710 2 0. This is a tremendously good book. It is also very useful. Useful…
Collaborative Works
Tracey Emin’s recent dispute with a north London primary school over the ownership and authorship of an artwork raised an interesting public debate, much of it focusing on the market value of art: ‘A £35,000 Tracey Emin quilt…
Contracts as easy as ABC: A Users Guide
This article provides simple and useful information on how to use Contracts. AGREEMENT Often the word agreement is used loosely to mean a contract. However, an agreement will only be a legally…