N.Y. ACA Law § 12.01 — New York Code / Act ACA / Title C / Article 12 / Section 12.01
Artist-art merchant relationships
Status: in_force

§ 12.01. Artist-art merchant relationships. 1. Notwithstanding any\ncustom, practice or usage of the trade, any provision of the uniform\ncommercial code or any other law, statute, requirement or rule, or any\nagreement, note, memorandum or writing to the contrary:\n  (a) Whenever an artist or craftsperson, or a successor in interest of\nsuch artist or craftsperson, delivers or causes to be delivered a work\nof fine art, craft or a print of such artist's or craftsperson's own\ncreation to an art merchant for the purpose of exhibition and/or sale on\na commission, fee or other basis of compensation, the delivery to and\nacceptance thereof by the art merchant establishes a consignor/consignee\nrelationship as between such artist or craftsperson, or the successor in\ninterest of such artist or craftsperson, and such art merchant with\nrespect to the said work, and:\n  (i) such consignee shall thereafter be deemed to be the agent of such\nconsignor with respect to the said work;\n  (ii) such work is trust property in the hands of the consignee for the\nbenefit of the consignor;\n  (iii) any proceeds from the sale of such work are trust funds in the\nhands of the consignee for the benefit of the consignor;\n  (iv) such work shall remain trust property notwithstanding its\npurchase by the consignee for his own account until the price is paid in\nfull to the consignor; provided that, if such work is resold to a bona\nfide third party before the consignor has been paid in full, the resale\nproceeds are trust funds in the hands of the consignee for the benefit\nof the consignor to the extent necessary to pay any balance still due to\nthe consignor and such trusteeship shall continue until the fiduciary\nobligation of the consignee with respect to such transaction is\ndischarged in full; and\n  (v) such trust property and trust funds shall be considered property\nheld in statutory trust, and no such trust property or trust funds shall\nbecome the property of the consignee or be subject or subordinate to any\nclaims, liens or security interest of any kind or nature whatsoever of\nthe consignee's creditors.\n  (b) Waiver of any provision of this section is absolutely void except\nthat a consignor may lawfully waive the provisions of clause (iii) of\nparagraph (a) of this subdivision, if such waiver is clear, conspicuous,\nin writing, in words which clearly and specifically apprise the\nconsignor that the consignor is waiving rights under this section with\nrespect to proceeds from the sale of the consignor's work, and\nsubscribed by the consignor, provided:\n  (i) no such waiver shall be valid with respect to the first two\nthousand five hundred dollars of gross proceeds of sales received in any\ntwelve-month period commencing with the date of the execution of such\nwaiver;\n  (ii) no such waiver shall be valid with respect to the proceeds of a\nwork initially received on consignment but subsequently purchased by the\nconsignee directly or indirectly for his own account; and\n  (iii) no such waiver shall inure to the benefit of the consignee's\ncreditors in any manner which might be inconsistent with the consignor's\nrights under this subdivision.\n  (c) Proceeds from the sale of consigned works covered by this section\nshall be deemed to be revenue from the sale of tangible goods and not\nrevenue from the provision of services to the consignor or others,\nexcept that the provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to proceeds\nfrom the sale of consigned works sold at public auction.\n  2. If a consignee fails to treat the trust property or trust funds\nidentified in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of this section in\naccordance with the requirements of fiduciaries in section 11-1.6 of the\nestates, powers and trusts law, such failure shall constitute a\nviolation of this article and of section 11-1.6 of the estates, powers\nand trusts law and shall be subject to the penalties provided therein.\n  3. Any person who has been injured by reason of a violation of this\narticle may bring an action in his or her own name to enjoin such\nunlawful act, to recover his or her actual damages, or both. The court\nmay award reasonable attorneys' fees, costs and expenses to a prevailing\nplaintiff in any such action.\n  4. Nothing in this section shall be construed to have any effect upon\nany written or oral contract or arrangement in existence prior to\nSeptember first, nineteen hundred sixty-nine or to any extensions or\nrenewals thereof except by the mutual written consent of the parties\nthereto.\n