We reported recently on a new lawsuit in California invoking the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) in the context of a mural by Victor Henderson, of the Los Angeles Fine Arts Squad. Henderson alleges that property owner Ralph Ziman had his “Brooks Avenue Painting” water blasted in 2013, thus destroying the integrity of his work… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Intellectual Property
Subscribe to Intellectual Property RSS Feed“Dumb Starbucks” Indeed a Prank, Health Department is Not Amused
Posted in Copyright, Intellectual Property, TrademarkAs we suspected, the “Dumb Starbucks” store in Los Angeles claiming a right to copy Starbucks’s logo and store design by relying on fair use turned out to be a prank after all (bolstered, as I did not realize yesterday by the fact that despite what the store said about selling coffee, they were actually… Continue Reading
Is “Dumb Starbucks” an Art Gallery in the Eyes of the Law?
Posted in Copyright, Intellectual Property, TrademarkNews that a coffee shop had opened in Los Angeles entitled “Dumb Starbucks” has again raised the proper interpretation of fair use under U.S. intellectual property law into the realm of popular culture and commerce. Whereas last year’s Beastie Boys/GoldieBlox dustup (still ongoing) revolved primarily around copyright law, here the potential issue is one of… Continue Reading
Lauren Clay, the David Smith Estate, David Dodde, and Fair Use: Are We Learning Anything?
Posted in Copyright, Fair Use, Intellectual PropertyA pair of recent disputes over sculpture, fair use and moral rights highlights the ongoing concern that Prince v. Cariou has made things worse, not better. The first concerns the estate of sculptor David Smith, and sculptor Lauren Clay. As Art in America put it, “Clay’s works replicate the shapes of Smith’s large metal ‘Cubi’… Continue Reading
IBA Annual Conference Starts Today in Boston
Posted in Copyright, Events, Intellectual Property, TrademarkI’ll be at the International Bar Association Conference all week here in Boston, starting tonight. Among others, I’m looking forward to the sessions below (the first featuring my partner at Sullivan & Worcester, Laura Steinberg, the trademark panel featuring my partner at Sullivan & Worcester Kim Herman, and others given by the Art, Cultural Institutions… Continue Reading
Fair Use and Social Utility: Google Books Case Could Drive Copying of Visual Arts in the Name of Access
Posted in Copyright, Intellectual PropertyComments by the federal judge overseeing the copyright dispute arising out of the Google Books project could portend a lasting effect on reproductions of visual arts. Elevating the question of social benefit in a fair use analysis, Judge Denny Chin of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York posed a question… Continue Reading
Coverage of Lessig “Lisztomania” DCMA Takedown Lawsuit Continues
Posted in Copyright, Intellectual PropertyNews media have started to pick up on the lawsuit filed in August by Lawrence Lessig, which challenges takedown notice practices by Liberation Music under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (the “DMCA”) in relation to Lessig’s lecture series later posted on YouTube, which featured third party content creators and the song “Lisztomania” by the… Continue Reading
Cariou Petitions Supreme Court to Review Richard Prince Fair Use Decision
Posted in Intellectual Property, UncategorizedPatrick Cariou, after winning his copyright claim against Richard Prince in the District Court in 2011, suffered a stinging reversal earlier this year when the Second Circuit found in Prince’s favor as to his use of Cariou’s Yes, Rasta series in the Prince Canal Zone collages. The Second Circuit decision has been widely derided… Continue Reading
Copyright Office Holds Hearing on Resale Royalty Legislation
Posted in Copyright, Intellectual Property, Resale RoyaltiesThe 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
German 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, Legislation, Resale RoyaltiesConsistent 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, Resale Royalties, 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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