On August 18, 2023, the Second Circuit held that Vermont Law School’s permanent concealment of two controversial murals located at the school did not violate the mural creator’s rights under the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 (“VARA”).[1] In a unanimous opinion authored by Circuit Judge Debra Ann Livingston and joined by Circuit Judge Jose A. Cabranes and District Judge Rachel P. Kovner of the Eastern District of New York (sitting by designation), the Court of Appeals concluded that permanently concealing the murals did not constitute “modifying” or “destroying” them and thus did not v ..read more

A September 27, 2023 decision by a Manhattan trial court, Aicon Art LLC v. Aicon Contemporary LLC, No. 650580/2023, 2023 N.Y. Slip. Op. 33340(U) (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Sept. 27, 2023), involving a dispute between two businesses located in the same art gallery, serves as a reminder to New York art market participants to take care to avoid attorney conflicts of interest.  A lawyer who has formerly represented a client in a matter may not represent another person in the same or substantially related matter in which that person’s interests are materially adverse to the interests of the former client ..read more

l. to r. Dan Weiner, Michael Salzman, Derek J.T. Adler and Meaghan Gragg For the fourth year running, the Chambers High Net Worth guide, which focuses on the private wealth sector, recognized HHR as one of the nation’s leading law firms for Art and Cultural Property Law. Chambers ranked HHR’s Art Law practice in the second-highest band among the top firms nationwide. “I am happy with their service, they are very responsive and kind,” said market insiders. “I think of them very highly and they have a great team.” Dan Weiner (Band 1) and Michael Salzman (Band 3) were individually recognized. “He ..read more

They’re apples and oranges.  That’s the message, at least, that U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr. sent on June 9, 2023 by granting Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan’s motion for summary judgment in a copyright lawsuit fellow artist Joseph Morford brought against him in the Southern District of Florida.[1]; The claim, which the Hughes Hubbard Art Law blog first reported on in December 2022,[2] arose from an art installation Cattelan created for Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2019 that consisted of a banana duct-taped onto a white wall.[3]  The work, named Comedian, sold for ..read more

A pair of copyright decisions issued in May, one involving the appropriation artist Richard Prince[1] and the other involving works portraying the musician known as Prince, explore and expand on the “fair use” defense to copyright infringement. On May 11, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Richard Prince’s request for summary judgment in two copyright infringement lawsuits brought against him, paving the way for a trial in Manhattan on the scope of fair use.[2] A week later, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the Second Circuit Court of Appeals’ holding that the ..read more

While 2022 held several lessons for art market participants – from NFTs to Treasury regulations – the end of the year brought a reminder particularly for antiquities collectors of the need to carefully consider the provenance and history of objects in their collections. According to a recent New York Times article, the New York District Attorney’s Office (“New York D.A.”) has recovered (by its own count) nearly 4,500 antiquities since 2011.[1] Collectors should be aware of the risks of ongoing investigations and consider updating their own policies. Individuals In December 2022, The Art N ..read more

The sudden emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. in March 2020 forced performance venues, auction houses and event spaces to cancel events, depriving artists and venues of thousands, and in some cases, millions of dollars.  When the inevitable lawsuits ensued, and plaintiffs demanded compensation for non-performance of their contracts, many defendants relied on “force majeure” provisions within those contracts—clauses that excuse non-performance when there is an intervening event that the parties could not have anticipated or controlled—to avoid liability.  In cases where th ..read more

During Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2019, Italian artist and provocateur Maurizio Cattelan[1] duct-taped a banana onto a white wall. Within hours, his work, Comedian, sold for $120,000, went viral, and became that year’s perhaps most discussed artwork.[2] On January 4, 2021, pro se plaintiff Joe Morford filed a complaint in the Southern District of Florida claiming that Cattelan’s Comedian infringes Morford’s preexisting work, Banana & Orange.[3] On July 6, 2022, Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr. denied Cattelan’s motion to dismiss, holding that Morford adequately alleged that Comedian has a ..read more

On February 4, 2022, the Treasury Department published its Study on the Facilitation of Money Laundering and Terror Finance Through the Trade in Works of Art (the “Report”).[1] To the surprise of many and the relief of the U.S. art market, the Report concluded that there was no immediate need to impose new regulations on the art market to combat money laundering and terrorism finance. Although there is some potential for money laundering using high-value art, the Report recommended that regulators prioritize other sectors of the economy where greater risks are presented. Yet the Report also di ..read more

As previously reported on this blog, non-fungible tokens (or “NFTs”) recently emerged as one of the hottest new items on the art market—artists, auction houses, museums, sports organizations and others have jumped at the chance to create and sell their own versions of these unique tokens.  But even as the term “NFT” has become more familiar, questions remain about the legal consequences of creating, marketing and selling NFTs. The five recent lawsuits discussed below provide a window into these potential legal consequences.  Although none has reached a resolution, these private civil ..read more