In a partial victory for artists such as Chuck Close and the Sam Francis Foundation—and for other visual artists who sold early works for rent money before establishing their name and value—the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last week resurrected part of a California law that enables fine artists to share in the profits from resale … Continue Reading
Authorship credit: David McMillan Exploiting a recent European Union Directive extending the term of copyright for sound recordings, Sony released an 86-track collection of Bob Dylan recordings, including studio outtakes and live recordings from 1962-63. The Directive, issued September 2011, extends the term of protection for sound recording copyrights by 20 years—from 50 years … Continue Reading
Droit moral – the legal doctrine that grants artists a moral right to dictate certain treatment of their artwork even after sale – has a firm foundation in European law and elsewhere, but has never found much support in U.S. jurisprudence. Certain moral rights are recognized under the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990, 17 … Continue Reading
Most working artists make a living by creating valuable one-of-a-kind or limited-edition pieces. They then hand those pieces to a stranger to sell or display. Entrusting artwork to a gallery, auction house, or museum is an intimidating process, but artists, buyers, secondary-market sellers, and agents all benefit from a common understanding of the language of … Continue Reading
