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…
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…
Artlaw History
In November 2009 Artquest’s online practical information, advice and support service for visual artists and craftspeople was overhauled and improved. It included a major restructuring of the Artlaw Archive of articles published in Art Monthly from its first…
Play with Fire
The typewriter ribbon had the grace to hold out until I entered the last full stop on my overdue column for Art Occasionally. It was 4 a.m. I snapped off the desk light and realised the resulting…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
Writing an artist’s biography
An artist biography (or ‘artists biog’) is a paragraph or two about you and your career as a practitioner. It may also contain a line about the key themes to your practice. Biographies are often confused…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Copyright
What works are covered / protected by copyright? What can I do if my work is used without my permission? When can I use copyright material without permission? How do I get permission to use copyrighted material (film, photography,…