Source: https://itsartlaw.com/page/2/
Timestamp: 2017-08-17 23:09:39
Document Index: 677879286

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 106', '§ 1610', '§ 1605', '§ 1605', '§ 201', '§ 1610', '§ 2459', '§ 954', '§ 956', '§ 959', '§ 509', '§ 509', '§ 501', '§145']

Center for Art Law | Art and cultural heritage law aggregator. | Page 2
Leave a comment Posted on April 28, 2017 April 28, 2017 by centerforartlaw advocacy, art, art and law, art dealers, art law event, Immigration Law
By Katherine Jennings
Photo credit: Center for Art Law.
On March 9, 2017, the Center for Art Law held an Art Law Mixer addressing the timely and provocative topic of immigration issues confronted by immigrant artists with the recent issuance of EO 13769, among other anti-immigrant measures. The 45th President commenced his presidency with a barrage of Executive Orders (EOs) including EO 13769*, which was signed by Trump on January 27, 2017, and restricted travel to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries and by all refugees. This EO has had far-reaching and devastating effects on immigrants including immigrant artists. It has wreaked havoc and confusion at the borders. Antagonizing foreign dignitaries, it has quickly been met with outrage and resistance by artist activists, art organizations, and lawyers.
The Georges Bergès Gallery, a stylish, SoHo gallery with an international focus, was the apt and welcoming site of the two-hour event, a first Center for Art Law (the “Center”) program to address immigration issues. It was composed of a wine and cheese reception and presentation by the founders of Lehach Filippa, an immigration law firm intended to serve creative professionals, followed by a Q&A. The discussion was moderated by Irina Tarsis, founder of the Center. Attendees included lawyers, artists and law students. After a brief warm up period during which attendees were encouraged “to talk to someone you didn’t come with,” Georges Bergès, the founder of the eponymous contemporary art gallery, spoke briefly to welcome all and to talk about the global perspective of his gallery. Bergès said his goal is to find authentic artists who are working in their own cultural context.
On to the substantive portion of the evening, Tarsis introduced Alejandro Filippa, Esq. and Michael Lehach, Esq, founding partners of Lehach Filippa. Lehach and Filippa spoke about the O-1 visa, commonly referred to as the “artist visa”, and the process of applying for work permits as a foreign artist. The current political climate and the effects of the anti-immigrant executive orders from President Donald Trump was also a topic of discussion. Filippa speculated that if the current precedent of an excessive number of executive orders is any indication, we will likely see more pushback and restrictions to immigration applications and processes in the future.
In order to qualify for an O-1 visa, or artist visa, an applicant must demonstrate “extraordinary ability by sustained national or international acclaim and must be coming temporarily to the United States to continue to work in the area of extraordinary ability.” Extraordinary ability in the field of arts means “distinction.” The Immigration Act of 1990 (Pub.L. 101-649, 104 Stat. 4978) was a national reform of immigration that, among other things, excluded artists and entertainers (as well as athletes and nurses) from qualifying for H-1B visas. Two new categories, O and P, were introduced for extraordinarily skilled foreigners in the arts and sciences. The 1990 legislation was created in response to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (Pub.L.), aka the McCarran-Walter Act, which was meant “to exclude certain immigrants from immigrating to America, post-World War II and in the early Cold War.
Clearly, both Lehach and Filippa enjoy their law practice and are competent, dedicated professionals. Their passion was evident as they spoke about the process of creating a solid application in order to achieve success in obtaining an artist visa. Advocating for their clients is predicated upon a solid application with supporting documentation. Involved in facilitating artist visas and residence applications, they represent foreign creative professionals who want to work in the US and creative organizations seeking foreign talent to work in their US office. Their clients are from diverse industries such as the performing arts, music, fashion, film, photography, design, fine art, journalism and more. These “extraordinary aliens” have included tattoo artists, dancers, and rappers. The client may seek Temporary Work Visas and /or Permanent Residence based on Extraordinary Ability.
Lehach and Filippa outlined the proof needed to establish a valid application for an artist visa. In addition to a detailed resume, the client should include all relevant documents regarding their awards, notable clients, publications and press, and work history. An applicant must provide at least eight references by professionals who can attest to the extraordinary abilities of the applicant. Noting that an applicant’s file can be huge, they also spoke about how they have to be from important and respected sources. Lehach noted that it would not do a client any good if he were to provide his private residence as a gallery that would show the applicant artist’s work. Rather, the gallery must be a well-known and established entity.
Another crucial component of the application is an itinerary of the events and activities in the beneficiary’s field of extraordinary ability. You must have a plan of what you will be doing, with whom and when, and it has to be concrete. This constitutes the Sponsorship aspect of the application. For example, the applicant must provide an established list of galleries who will show his or her work and a concomitant timeline. An Employer, an Agency, or an Agent is an acceptable sponsor. Finally, it is helpful for the applicant to have a portfolio as a physical manifestation of the accomplishments detailed in his or her resume.
Lehach and Filippa also spoke about the case of an application for an Artist Visa being rejected. They said it is much better to refile, than appeal, because the immigration agents can be fickle. Noting that it can often be difficult to decide what constitutes extraordinary ability, they said it is crucial to initially establish a solid case. Their law firm also deals with other immigration issues such as obtaining permanent residency, obtaining a green card, and asylum issues, and extension of artist visas.
The presentation was followed by a lively question and answer session. Both presenters showed obvious delight in their chosen field and were quick to address each question thoughtfully. One interesting tidbit revealed during the Q&A was that under the right circumstances there is even a provision for bringing an artist’s muse into the country on a visa. As for the immigration ban that instigated the theme of the evening, “a judge sitting on an Island in the Pacific” ruled it unenforceable.
*Note that on February 3, 2017, EO 13769 was given a temporary restraining order in a decision from the Ninth Circuit of the Court of Appeals. EO 13769 was revoked as of 3/16/17.
About the Author: Katherine Jennings is a lawyer and contemporary realist oil painter living in New Jersey. She has a B.A. in History from Duke University and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law where she was an Associate Editor of the Fordham International Law Journal. Having practiced intellectual property and immigration law, she is also certified as an Art Law Mediator with VLA. She was recently accepted into the Copyist Program at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and her work may be viewed at www.katherinejenningsfineart.com.
Art Law Mixer Georges Bergès Gallery Immigration Law Lehach Filippa travel ban U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement WYWH
Leave a comment Posted on April 26, 2017 April 26, 2017 by centerforartlaw art, event review, Museum Funding, public art
By Heather DeSerio*
On February 28, 2017, the New York State Bar Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law’s Fine Art’s Committee (EASL) hosted a brown bag lunch with Kristin Sakoda, Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel of the New York City (NYC or the “City”) Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA or Department). Sakoda is a veteran at the DCLA and runs an all-female department of three attorneys. She presented to a room full of lawyers working in the arts about the DCLA’s mission the types of legal issues involved in the agency’s work, and the DCLA’s involvement in shaping the cultural policy of the City. Attendees of the event also learned about how the City administers and manages public art initiatives from the perspective of a lawyer, and the policies that shape the City’s arts-related initiatives.
The creation of the Department of Cultural Affairs has an interesting story about how it became the DCLA that exists today. In 1869, a group of citizens proposed that NYC should build a museum for natural history, which led to the construction of the American Museum of Natural History. Afterwards, a number of museums began construction around the city. Next, followed the formation of an 11-member panel Art Commission in 1898, that oversaw the proposal and installation of permanent works of art, architecture, and landscape architecture on NYC owned property. Around 1934, then-mayor of NYC Fiorello La Guardia, appointed a Municipal Art Committee to advise the City on ways to stimulate New York’s cultural life during the hardships of the Great Depression. The Committee used funds from the Works Progress Administration, the emergency Relief Bureau, and other foundations. It wasn’t until 1968 that the DCLA was created within NYC’s Parks Department. In 1976, under the direction of Mayor Abraham D. Beame, the DCLA became its own department that existed separately from the Department of Parks and Recreation with its own commissioner. This was done so that the needs of the growing DCLA could be met and the Parks Department could better focus on providing for the Parks and Recreation initiatives.
About the DCLA
The DCLA serves an important function in a city known for being one of the biggest cultural centers in the world. The annual budget on the Mayor’s Office website indicates that the DCLA is the nation’s largest municipal funder of the arts in the United States. During their 2017 fiscal year, their expense budget was $84.81 billion and a capital budget of $14.0 billion through 2018. (For more information about different breakdowns and allocations of funding for New York City see the annual budget by clicking here.)
The Department plays a pivotal role in encouraging and supporting public funding of art, artist residencies, and provides many grants to artists and institutions throughout the metropolitan area. This support contributes to New York’s diverse and robust cultural scene.
The DCLA has three primary funding divisions that provide support for the arts community. First there is the the Program Services Unit, which administers funds to groups that provide cultural experiences for NYC’s residents and visitors. The second funding division is the Cultural Institutions Unit that provides operational support (in the form of unrestricted operating grants and the payment of all energy bills – heat, light and power) for 33 major cultural institutions occupying City-owned buildings or land, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The third division is the Capital Projects Unit (CPU), which provides capital in the form of grants for the design, construction, and equipment for those institutions and other cultural groups in City-owned and non-City-owned facilities. The Capital Projects are funded from the NYC’s Capital budget.
Among their other projects, the DCLA administers New York City’s program Percent for Art, which makes art accessible to the public and visible throughout NYC by commissioning and acquiring art for display in public spaces. As the title of the program implies, 1 percent of the City’s capital is made available for the commission of or acquisition of a public piece of art. There are currently over 400 acquired works displayed around NYC. Click here to view a map of all the public artwork on display that was funded through the Percent for Art Program. A couple familiar works include the Frederick Douglass Memorial, located in Central Park West and the Triumph of the Human Spirit monument in Foley Square (near the court houses downtown). On February 15, 2017, NYC’s Office of the Mayor released a statement that Mayor de Blasio recently signed off on an increase to the Percent for Art program in the amount of 1% of the first $50 million as indicated in the bill, Intro. 1296-A.
Another key program administered by the DCLA is Materials for the Arts (MFTA). It was created in 1978. MFTA provides nonprofit and educational organizations with free supplies to support and grow art programs citywide. The program is headquartered in a large warehouse owned by DCLA in Long Island City, New York. MFTA collects reusable materials from a host of donors, and distributes them free of charge to qualifying non-profit arts organizations, City agencies, public schools, and social, health and community service organizations that have arts programs in New York City. Individual artists qualify only if they are financially sponsored by a non-profit organization. Once an entity qualifies, they can request a shopping appointment for materials at the MFTA warehouse or can obtain items through their online listing database. The MFTA also provides training for teachers on how to creatively reuse the donated materials and integrate them into art projects. The MFTA has distributed free supplies to more than 1,900 member organizations and public schools and collected more than 1.2 million pounds of high quality reusable goods valued at $5.8 million from over 1,685 donors, according to the DCLA’s website.
The Department has many new initiatives that focus on increasing support for art institutions and artists. For instance, one of these new initiatives involves integrating art into city services involves placing individual artist to partner with DCAS in the Public Artists in Residence (PAIR) program. There is also the IDNYC Cultural Partnerships where the City offers NYC residents a free ID card that has the benefit of providing free one year membership to venues throughout the five boroughs such as the Museum of Modern Art, the New York City Ballet, the Bronx Zoo, and many more. These programs provide the public with increased access to art programs to foster art education and more opportunities for residents to become members of cultural institutions to gain free access to museums, zoos, aquariums, and much more.
DCLA’s Legal Counsel
The DCLA’s legal department provides guidance and support for most of the programs that the DCLA offers. More cultural institutions, museums, government, for profit and nonprofit should take note of the number of attorneys working for the DCLA. There are at least three attorneys that work together to provide support for all of DCLA’s initiatives in conjunction with the NYC Law Department. DCLA’s General Counsel handles a wide variety of issues for the City such as employment law, contracts, artist rights, leases, licensing, and legislative drafting.
The legal department at the DCLA also focuses on the City’s interest in artist rights under the 1990 Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA), 17 U.S.C. § 106A. This provision is relevant when the DCLA commissions or agrees to purchase a work of art to be displayed publicly. Artists who are commissioned by the DCLA or who sell their artwork to the City should be aware of their “VARA rights.” This is because the artist’s moral rights in the artwork are impacted when the agreement is a work for hire agreement or the City includes provisions that indicate that the City has right to control the work or remove it for safety reasons. See, this previous article VARA, Back to the Rescue of Public Art in NYC written by Irina Tarsis of the Center for Art Law, for more information about VARA rights and provide an example of issues that an artist can face with public art agreements.
The DCLA attorneys also work with city council and provide guidance in drafting legislation for the Percent for Art Legislation program by making policy decisions for the department. The lawyers at the DCLA also carefully watch issues at the national level because decisions at the federal level can impact their Department. This is especially true as the new administration is taking office and making significant changes.
Federal Funding and the DCLA
Funding for exhibits is not the only problem that cultural institutions will face. On March 16, 2017, the United State’s Office of Management and Budget, released the proposed Budget for 2018 making it clear that the current administration wants to eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (“NEA”). The state and local Department of Cultural Affairs across the country face an important question about how they will be impacted by the proposed budget cuts to the NEA. Sakoda pointed to the fact that the federal budget trickles down to the state and then to the city. If the funding received by the State is reduced by the Federal Government it will in turn have a dramatic effect on the amount of available funds that the City receives from the State. Accordingly, the reduced budget the City will receive from the State will be reflected in the City’s reduced funding for grants to artists and cultural institutions. This will result in a decline in funding for exhibitions, art development, art organizations, and other art initiatives. There will also be a reduction in the acquisition of public art, and cultural institutions will be impacted significantly at the local level if the federal budget is reduced.
One of the most concerning issues with the federal cutbacks for the NEA is the federal insurance program that the NEA provides for exhibitions. There is a common requirement in loan agreements that museums must take out insurance for artwork displayed in an exhibit. Insurance is commonly provided by the NEA’s federal insurance program. This federal insurance program plays a huge role in providing insurance for artwork and without it many exhibits would never happen in the United States because major museums across the country would be unable to get insurance on their own for the amount required to put on large exhibits. The New York Observer’s article The Masterpiece Trade: Meet the U.S. Agency That Makes Museum Blockbusters Possible noted the role the federal insurance program plays in bringing major exhibits to museums by pointing out that the Museum of Modern Art displayed a statement that indicating that the recent “‘Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs’ exhibit from October 12, 2014–February 10, 2015, was ‘supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.’”
For more information about the role that the NEA plays in the arts in the United States please read the article, The Legislative History of NEA and NEH, written by Emily Lanza.
Not only with the programs the DCLA manages trickle down to artists, institutions, and organizations, even public schools will feel the effects of this blunder because they would not receive materials from the Material for Arts Program. Artists will feel the shift in the federal government’s agenda in a dramatic way and be left with little financial assistance to spur creativity and care for artwork outside of the patronage system. It will have a stifling effect on creativity, and a failure to fund the NEA will reduce the number of important exhibitions, development of important non-profit organizations, leasing and acquisition of equipment, and reusable materials for public schools that help provide the public with motivation to develop and come up with new works to be displayed and interacted with.
Without the support and expertise of the DCLA, there is a big question that plagues the future of many publicly funded organizations, institutions, and art projects. The programs that the DCLA department funds are all susceptible to be reduced in proportion to the amount of funding received from the federal government. The policies and legislative initiatives could be altered as well. At this time, there is concern about whether the proposed budget or reduction in NEA funding will be approved by Congress. There are also discussions regarding an approved budget cut’s impact among members of the legal community that work within the creative organizations and individuals.
Daniel Grant, The Masterpiece Trade: Meet the U.S. Agency That Makes Museum Blockbusters Possible (March 25, 2015), available at http://observer.com/2015/03/the-masterpiece-trade-meet-the-u-s-agency-that-makes-museum-blockbusters-possible/.
Emily Lanza, The Legislative History of NEA and NEH (Mar. 22, 2017), https://itsartlaw.com/2017/03/22/the-legislative-history-of-nea-and-neh/.
Irina Tarsis, VARA, Back to the Rescue of Public Art in NYC (Feb. 5, 2014), https://itsartlaw.com/2014/02/05/vara-back-to-the-rescue-of-public-art-in-nyc/.
Materials for The Arts, http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcla/mfta/html/home/home.shtml (last visited Mar. 24, 2017).
National Endowment for the Arts, https://www.arts.gov/ (last visited Mar. 24, 2017).
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcla/html/home/home.shtml (last visited Mar. 24, 2017).
Percent for the Arts http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcla/html/panyc/percent-for-art-map.shtml (last visited (Mar. 24, 2017).
William Neuman, New York Art Scene Anxiously Waits for Decision on N.E.A.’s Fate, March 9, 2017, available at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/nyregion/national-endowment-for-the-arts-new-york.html.
Waiver of Moral Rights in Visual Works, https://www.copyright.gov/reports/exsum.html (last updated Jan. 10, 2003).
*About the Author: Heather DeSerio (NYLS, JD Class 2017) is a Spring 2017 Legal Intern with the Center for Art Law. In her studies, she is concentrating in Intellectual Property Law. Prior to law school, she worked as a fine artist and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from Ringling College of Art and Design. She can be reached at heather.deserio@law.nyls.edu.
Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and is not meant to provide legal advice. Any views or opinions made in the linked article are the authors alone. Readers are not meant to act or rely upon the information in this article and should consult a licensed attorney.
art funding Department of Cultural Affairs public art
Leave a comment Posted on March 30, 2017 April 1, 2017 by centerforartlaw art, art loans, Cuba, FSIA
By Mandy Estinville*
Cuba and the United States are closer now than they have been for 50 years. In 2015, the United States officially removed Cuba from its list of State Sponsors of Terrorism. Moreover, the Obama Administration amended the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regulations to allow for greater freedom in travel and remittances, and to permit U.S. telecommunications, media, construction, and agricultural companies to establish a physical presence in Cuba. Most recently, the United States loosened certain sanctions on Cuba, including lifting the $100 limit on bringing Cuban rum and cigars into the United States. Although future of the normalization process between the two countries is uncertain under the Trump administration, a continuation of diplomatic relations with Cuba will promote cultural exchanges, such as selling and loaning art to museums and galleries. In fact, The Art Newspaper reports that the “market for Cuban art is booming; 20th-century Modernists such as Wifredo Lam, Amelia Pelaez, and Rene Portocarrero are particularly popular.”
Despite improved relations between the two countries, there remain many unresolved issues that may affect Cuba’s willingness to export art to the U.S. In particular, Cuba owes about $7 billion dollars in property claims to American citizens and corporations whose property in Cuba was seized by the Cuban government during the Fidel Castro administration. In addition to those claims, Cuba is responsible for default judgments totaling over $3 billion dollars for purported acts of terrorism against U.S. citizens. Until paid, judgment holders of terrorist-related claims may attempt to seize any Cuban governmental owned art that enters the U.S. for a museum exhibition.
The State Sponsor Terrorism Exception
The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”) provides that foreign states are immune from the jurisdiction of state and federal courts. However, Congress has created certain terrorism-related exceptions to the general immunity that foreign sovereigns enjoy within the U.S. Namely, the State Sponsor Terrorism exception (“SST”) allows courts to exercise jurisdiction over claims against foreign state sponsors of terrorism that cause personal injury or death to the U.S. citizens.
Cuba was originally placed on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list in 1982 for reportedly sponsoring communist groups in other countries. After Congress enacted the State Sponsor Terrorism exception to the FSIA, many plaintiffs filed human rights lawsuits against Cuba. Consequently, in many cases, courts found Cuba liable for acts of terrorism against U.S. citizens. These cases were ex parte proceedings, which resulted in default judgments since Cuba failed to appear. In Alejandre v. Republic of Cuba, the Florida Southern District court found jurisdiction under the SST exception and held Cuba liable for the Cuban Air Force’s shoot-down of two U.S. registered civilian planes in 1996, killing four people, three of them U.S. citizens. Each plaintiff, in that case, was awarded between $16 and $17.5 million dollars in compensatory damages as well as $137.7 million dollars in punitive damages. The Florida Circuit court also found jurisdiction under SST exception in Hausler v. Republic of Cuba and held Cuba liable for the execution of Bobby Fuller in 1960. Mr. Fuller’s family was awarded $65 million dollars in economic losses, $35 million dollars for non-economic compensatory damages, and—notably—$300 million in punitive damages. Lastly, the court in Villoldo v. Ruz found jurisdiction under the SST exception and held Cuba liable for its role in the imprisonment and torture of Gustavo Villoldo following the Cuban Revolution. As a result, the court awarded the plaintiffs a $2.79 billion dollars judgment against the Republic of Cuba and other Cuban parties.
Enforcing Judgments Against Cuba
Although the plaintiffs in Villoldo, Hausler and other cases won sizable judgments against Cuba, the Cuban government failed to make any payments. Challenges to obtaining payment for these judgments remain since Cuba has no attachable property in the United States. Consequently, the plaintiff’s only current viable option is to go after the estimated $243.2 million dollars worth of assets previously blocked by the Kennedy administration following the Cuban Missile Crisis. These assets were originally blocked, or “frozen,” in order to prevent Cuba from using the United States banking system to transfer money to other Latin countries for use by local communist groups.
Some plaintiffs have been successful in attaching their judgment to Cuban blocked assets under section 201(A) of Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. This Act allows for the liquidation of blocked or frozen assets of a foreign state designated as a state sponsor of terrorism, or its agency or instrumentality, to satisfy a judgment against the foreign state for a claim based on SST. In fact, plaintiffs in Weininger v. Castro collected over $90 million dollars on their terrorist-related judgments against Cuba by liquidating frozen bank accounts owned by Cuban telecommunications companies. Because Cuban assets in the United States are sparse, plaintiffs are forced to be creative in enforcing their judgments. For instance, a plaintiff unsuccessfully sought to have a $63.6 million judgment paid out of BNP’s forfeiture of funds for its criminal conduct of processing and transferring billions of U.S. dollars to and from entities in Sudan, Iran, and Cuba.
Judgments against Cuba under the State Sponsored Terrorism Act may attach to Art loaned from Cuba
A potential unintended consequence of the normalization between Cuba and the U.S. is that it may provide plaintiffs with another viable option to collect on their judgments against Cuba. Section 1610 (a) of FSIA provides limited exceptions to immunity by allowing claimants to attach their judgments to foreign state’s property in the U.S. under certain circumstances.21 Under § 1610 (a) (7), claimants with judgments related to the State Sponsor Terrorism exception can attach that judgment to any Cuban governmental property. This attachment can occur regardless of whether the property is or was involved with the claim so long as the property is in the U.S. in connection to a commercial activity.
Typically, museums can apply to protect internationally loaned artworks from seizure under the Immunity from Seizure Act (“IFSA”). This protection is not automatic, once a museum submits its application to the State Department, the President or his designee must determine whether the object is of cultural significance and whether the temporary exhibition is in the national interest. While IFSA may protect Cuban loaned art from attachment for judgments relating to SST claims, it is unclear if the State Department will grant this immunity for Cuban loaned art under the Trump administration since the future of the normalization process between the U.S. and Cuba is uncertain. Without an approved IFSA application, it is likely that the risk of possible attachment for judgments obtained against Cuba will curtail the chances of Cuba exporting its art to the U.S. for temporary exhibits. Relatedly, Cuba recently failed to loan art to the Bronx Museum for the “Wild Noise” exhibit despite a ruling from the Obama administration granting the pieces protection from seizure. Instead, the museum exhibited pieces from private collectors and galleries. Cuba’s reluctance to loan art to museums in the U.S. may be attributed to the diplomatic uncertainties under the Trump administration.
In December 2016, Congress enacted the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act ( the “Immunity Clarification Act””), which amended the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act in response to the Malewicz v. City of Amsterdam finding that temporary art loans for exhibits are deemed a commercial activity. This new law clarifies that the act of exporting art that has been granted immunity from seizure under IFSA for a temporary exhibit in the U.S. is not considered a commercial activity and is, therefore, immune from U.S litigation. Despite the potential for this new amendment to increase international art exchanges, Cuba may still be vulnerable to expropriation claims if it exports art that was confiscated during Fidel Castro regime. One of the exceptions carved out in the Immunity Clarification Act disallows immunity for works “taken in connection with the acts of a foreign government as part of a systematic campaign of coercive confiscation or misappropriation of works from members of a targeted and vulnerable group.” Cuba may fall under that exception since it had systematically seized all Cuban property including property belonging to American individuals and corporations without compensation after the 1959 revolution led by Castro.
The ongoing disputes and outstanding claims and judgments between Cuba and the United States are not going to disappear. It has been reported that in addition to the claims the U.S. has against Cuba, Cuba asserts that the United States also owes Cuba billions in reparations and for the economic damage caused by the embargo as well as damages resulting from events such as the Bay of Pigs invasion. Due to the precarious nature of Cuba’s relationship with the U.S, it is imperative that Cuba resolves its outstanding judgments in the U.S. before it risks loaning any of its art to a U.S museum.
On March 22, 2017, Cardozo Law School’s Art Law Society and the Fashion, Arts, Media, and Entertainment Law Center (FAME) hosted a symposium, about Cuban art and the art market called “Not Their Art! Demystifying the Cuban Plunder and Nationalization of Art, Hoping for Restitution, and Predicting the Future of the Embargo and Its Sanctions.” Abigail McEwen, a specialist in Cuban and Porto Rican art of the twenty-century, moderated the event. There were three speakers at the event: Monica Dugot, the current International Director of Restitution at Christie’s, Carmen Melian, the former Director and Senior Specialist in Latin American Art at Sotheby’s New York for 15 years, and Carl Micarelli, a New York lawyer that advises clients on compliance with with regulations from the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Presentations at Cardozo centered around how artworks that were confiscated (or nationalized) by the Cuban government following the Cuban Revolution and the complicated relationship between Cuba and the United States have caused long-term problems still affecting the art market. For example, Dugot spoke about how Christie’s strives to make restitution of artwork for families that have had artwork confiscated an easy process for any valid claim that arises and is supported by sufficient documentation. Melian provided many examples of how artwork has come to market outside Cuba, including one involving a Cuban priest who sold artworks that were left with the church in an effort to provide funds for the parish, other examples centered around how many artist such as Wilfredo Lam who fled Cuba left many works behind, and how many forgeries permeate the art market as artworks are being copied from photographs with Cuban art in the background. Questions of authenticity and title have presented significant problems for provenance research and have complicated even the basic determination of whether artworks were privately or state-owned property. Micarelli informed the audience about the various U.S. laws and embargos imposed vis-a-vis Cuba that affect the art market; he warned the audience about the uncertainty of U.S. policy in relation to Cuba.
The market for Cuban artwork is said to be growing, but the sentiment of the panel was to be cautious when a buyer is going to purchase artwork that is from Cuba because of so much uncertainty surrounds ownership of the artwork that comes from Cuba.
Select Sources and Suggested Reading
Julie Hirshchfield Davis, U.S. Removes Cuba From State-Sponsored Terrorism List, New York Times (May 29, 2015) https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/us/us-removes-cuba-from-state-terrorism-list.html.
Frequently Asked Questions Related to Cuba https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/cuba_faqs_ne.w.pdf
Julie Hirshchfield Davis, Obama, Cementing New Ties With Cuba, Lifts Limits on Cigars and Rum, New York Times (October 14, 2016) http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/15/world/americas/obama-cuba-trade-embargo.html?_r=0.
David D’Arcy, Cuba refuses to return seized art despite thaw in relations with US, The Art Newspaper (Feb. 23, 2015) http://old.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Cuba-refuses-to-return-seized-art-despite-thaw-in-relations-with-US/36940
Mari-Claudia Jimenez, “RESTITUTING LOOTED CUBAN ART,” ASCA Cuba in Transition (2009), available at http://www.ascecuba.org/c/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/v19-jimenez.pdf
28 U.S.C. § 1605
28 U.S.C. § 1605A
CRS Report for Congress: Cuba and the State Sponsors of Terrorism List https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL32251.pdf
996 F. Supp. 1239 (S.D. Fla. 1997).
Hausler v. Republic of Cuba, No. 02-12475, 2007 WL 6870681 (Fla. Cir. Ct.
Jan. 19, 2007).
Villoldo v. Ruz, No. 08-14505 CA-25, 2009 WL 1832603, at *2 (Fla. Cir. Ct. May
Can Creditors enforce Terrorism Judgment against Cuba? https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/terror/creditors.pdf
Terrorist Assets Report for Calendar Year 2015 https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/tar2015.pdf
Cuban Assets in U.S Frozen by Treasury, Chicago Tribune (July 9, 1963) http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1963/07/09/page/1/article/cuban-assets-in-u-s-frozen-by-treasury
Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-297, § 201, 116 Stat. 2322.
462 F. Supp.2d 457, 98-503 (S.D.N.Y. 2006)
United States v. BNP Paribas S.A., 14 Cr. 460 (LGS) (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 30, 2015)
28 U.S.C. § 1610(a)
Immunity from Seizure Act: 22 U.S.C § 2459 https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2011-title22/html/USCODE-2011-title22-chap33-sec2459.htm
Randy Kennedy, Bronx Museum Won’t Get Loan of Art From Cuba, New York Times (Jan. 23, 2017) https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/23/arts/design/bronx-museum-of-the-arts-cuba-declines-to-send-art.html
Malewicz v. City of Amsterdam, 517 F. Supp. 2d 322; H.R. 6477
Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act: H.R. 6477 https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/6477
Frances Robles, Cuba Seizures Now Present Opportunities, New York Times (Dec. 21, 2014) https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/22/world/cuba-seizures-now-present-opportunities.html.
Senior State Department Official on Cuba Claims Discussions https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2016/07/260666.htm
About the Author: Mandy Estinville is an attorney based in New York, NY. She can be reached at mandyestinville@gmail.com.
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Leave a comment Posted on March 22, 2017 May 24, 2017 by centerforartlaw art, art history, Federal Government, Humanities, legislative history
by Emily Lanza*
On March 16, 2017, the President of the United States announced his proposed budget for 2018, which outlines his plans to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Notwithstanding the political arguments surrounding this issue or a likelihood of manifestation of these plans, in order to fully grasp their intended role and current impact on the arts and humanities communities, it is important to consider why Congress created these agencies in the first place, over fifty years ago.
Legislative history not only reveals the past but also informs the present, specifically the basic role of an agency or program. Thus, in order to create a more comprehensive and convincing argument in favor of these agencies having a future, we must first turn to the past. This article considers the significance of the two agencies from a legislative history perspective and examines how the legislative history can affect the future of these programs.
Overview of NEA and NEH
The United States is one of few nations not to have a Ministry or Department of Culture. Instead some of the duties a Ministry of Culture would undertake are designated to the NEA and NEH. Both agencies are part of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities (“National Foundation”). The National Foundation was established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 (“Act”) to promote a broadly conceived policy of support for the arts and humanities throughout the United States. The NEA provides financial grants to individuals, nonprofit groups, and the States to support engagement in the creative and performing arts while the NEH provides grants to support academic and scholarly humanistic teaching, learning, and research.
As independent agencies, the NEA and NEH each have a chairman and an advisory council. Appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, the chairman of NEH and the chairman of NEA are leaders in his/her particular field. William Drea Adams, an educator and the current NEH chairman, had previously served as President of Bucknell University and Colby College. With a background in arts administration, Jane Chu currently serves as the chairman of the NEA and is also herself an accomplished artist and musician.
While congressional appropriations are the primary source of funding for both agencies, the NEA and NEH can accept tax deductible donations including gifts of stock and other property. However, under government ethics restrictions, these agencies may accept donations from an organization that is eligible for an endowment grant “only if that organization confirms in writing that it has not received a grant in the past three years and does not intend to apply for a grant for the next three years.”
Legislative History of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965
Bills proposing the National Foundation were introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate on March 10, 1965. The Special Subcommittee on Arts and Humanities of the Senate Committee on the Labor and Public Welfare and the Special Subcommittee on Labor of the House Committee on Education and Labor held hearings on the proposed Foundation during February and March of 1965. By September of 1965, an amended Senate Bill (S.1483) passed both houses, and President Lyndon Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 into law.
Congress heard over fifty witnesses during seven days of hearings to discuss the proposed National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities, providing a robust legislative history. Three themes arise from the legislative history of this Act and the foundation of NEA and NEH: (1) the need to support the arts and humanities financially; (2) such support is in the national interest; and (3) that the federal government should accept the role and responsibility of providing this support.
The Need for Financial Support of the Arts and Humanities
According to the legislative history for establishing the National Foundation, Members of Congress and the relevant stakeholders at the time naturally focused on the financial needs of the arts and humanities, as the fundamental purpose of these agencies is to provide grants. However, Congress did not intend the National Foundation to serve as the only or primary supporter of arts and humanities in the United States, instead it was to act as a catalyst that “stimulate[s] private philanthropy for cultural endeavors and State activities to benefit the arts.” Congress noted that private financial support in the arts and humanities was “lagging,” as the number of endowment and foundation gifts to arts and cultural institutions was dropping. In order to encourage such donations, Congress authorized the proposed agencies to match funds donated from private sources, for Congress believed that financial support originating from multiple sources best reflected the operations of a democratic society.
Similarly, through the agencies’ state grant programs, Congress intended to increase the opportunities for access to the arts and humanities for everyone across the country. Congress hoped that encouraging and supporting the arts and humanities at the local level would allow a greater number of citizens to enjoy and appreciate the arts beyond those that live in the nation’s cultural centers. Thus, this collaborative approach between the federal and state governments towards funding the arts and humanities represented a recurring theme in the legislative history, ultimately shaping the structure and activities of the agencies.
National Interest in Supporting the Arts and Humanities
The importance of the arts and humanities to the nation was another predominant theme during the legislative history of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 and the creation of NEA and NEH. Together Members of Congress and stakeholders at the Hearings discussed the role of the arts and humanities in developing a successful democratic society. More specifically, many people explained that the arts and humanities teach us to think, to express ourselves, and to solve problems – all valuable and necessary qualities of productive citizens of a democratic society. Barnaby C. Keeney, President of Brown University and the Chairman of the Commission on the Humanities, eloquently stated:
“Only through the best ideas and the best teaching can we cope with the problems that surround us and the opportunities that lie beyond these problems. Our fulfillment as a Nation depends on the development of our minds; and our relations to one another depend upon our understanding of one another and of our society. The humanities and arts, therefore, are at the center of our lives and are of prime importance to the Nation and to ourselves. Very simply stated, it is in the national interest that the humanities and arts develop exceedingly well.”
Related to the civic benefits of the arts and humanities, Members of Congress and stakeholders also discussed the role of arts and humanities in education and employment – two issue areas of particular relevance to many throughout the country. Several witnesses, including the Commissioner of Education, mentioned the role of arts and humanities as a necessary component of a well-rounded education program from grade school to university. Similarly, others considered how the arts and humanities provide opportunities for employment and encourage people to realize their potential in their chosen fields by allowing them to acquire and develop certain skills – namely the skills involving expression and critical thinking.
Lastly, Members of Congress emphasized that the arts and humanities benefit the whole nation by assisting with our understanding of other peoples and cultures and by maintaining a positive image of the United States throughout the world. According to Senator Kennedy, arts and humanities “provide a vehicle for understanding and respect between men of all races and cultures.” Both the Senate Report associated with the Act and the Hearings explained that dedicated federal agencies to the arts and humanities “would serve not only to deepen our understanding of our friends and allies throughout the world, but would strengthen the projection of our Nation’s cultural life abroad, and enable us better to overcome the increasing ‘cultural offensive’ being waged by Communist ideologies.” Congress noted that the arts and humanities act as important cultural ambassadors both at home and abroad.
Federal Government Role in the Arts and Humanities
While legislative history reveals that Congress generally agreed about the importance and the need for financial support of the arts and humanities, perhaps the most critical issue discussed during the Hearings was the federal government’s role and responsibility in these areas. Those involved in the legislative history of the Act believed that the federal government’s interest and leadership in the arts and humanities would serve as the most effective manifestation of the national importance of these fields. Several remarked that the federal government’s involvement in the arts and humanities would “set[] a national tone of interest” and thus generate more visibility for the arts and humanities at the national level. Similarly, other stakeholders at the Hearings noted that the federal government is the best entity to foster cooperation between organizations and other government agencies by offering coordination and direction at the federal level.
Moreover, the legislative history demonstrates that many Members of Congress were keenly aware of the federal government’s involvement in another academic field: science. In the 1960s at the height of the space race, the U.S. government placed significant emphasis on science and technological development, which was viewed at that time as a priority for national security. One witness remarked during the first day of the hearings that a “substantial proportion of our attention and our national budget is directed toward motion in space. Our aspirations and goals are linked, literally, with the moon and the stars.” Congress intended with the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act to correct the imbalance between federal support for science and federal support for the arts and humanities.
Using the Past to Guide the Present & Future
So what does the legislative history of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 tell us about the present and future of the NEA and NEH? One of the points of delving into an Act’s legislative history is to understand congressional intent. In the case of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act, Congress intended to bestow on the federal government the responsibility to support, both financially and administratively, the arts and humanities. In order to justify this responsibility, Congress repeatedly referred to the basic fundamentals of our society and nation that are as relevant today as fifty years ago and, consequently, will likely be as relevant fifty years from now.
These fundamental principles include democracy, productivity, and leadership. In 1965, Congress understood that these principles, which are entwined with the arts and humanities, make up the foundation of our society and country. Congress favored a democratic approach towards funding the arts and humanities in which the federal government collaborates with private donors to fund projects that would enable a greater number of people across the country to enjoy and benefit from the arts and humanities. Congress also highlighted that the arts and humanities foster the productivity of the nation’s citizens, by providing opportunities to develop critical skills necessary for success in the context of education and employment. Likewise, the arts and humanities are important vehicles to demonstrate American influence and leadership at home and abroad.
While the specific concern about the threat of “Communist ideologies” may be indicative of the 1960s, the service that arts and humanities can provide to the nation as a whole is still relevant today. Such relevance stems from the universal and democratic principles that shape our identity as a nation and society, which Congress discussed and debated while creating the NEA and NEH during the legislative history of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965.
In 2016, Congress appropriated $148 million (0.003 percent of the budget) to the NEA and the same amount to NEH. Considering the $3.9 trillion budget of the federal government, the NEA and NEH offer bargain services to provide the basic fundamentals of an enlightened citizenry, democracy, productivity, and leadership. Cutting these agencies, while only a small part of the federal budget, would have a disproportionate impact on the prosperity of the nation. The nation cannot afford to ignore the lessons and insight revealed by the legislative history of these two agencies formed only fifty years ago.
Executive Off. of the President of the U.S.: Office of Mgmt.& Budget, America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again,5 (2017), available at https://tinyurl.com/k9aj588.
Pub.L.No.89-209,79 Stat.845 (1965). Preamble to the Act “To provide for the establishment of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities to promote progress and scholarship in the humanities and the arts in the United States.” Pub.L.No.89-209,79 Stat.845 (1965).
20 U.S.C.§ 954(b),(c),(f).
20 U.S.C.§ 956 (a), (b),(c),(f).
See, e.g.,NEA,2015 ANNUAL REPORT 14 (2016), available at https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/2015%20Annual%20Report.pdf.
20 U.S.C.§ 959(a)(2).“Other property” can include works of art.
NEA, ABOUT THE NEA: DONATE, available at https://www.arts.gov/about/donate.
H.R.6050,89th Cong.(1st Sess.1965) (introduced by Rep.Thompson,D-
S.1483,89th Cong.(1st Sess.1965)(introduced by Sens. Pell D-RI, Javitas R-NY, Gruening D-AK). Hearings were held on February 23-26 and March 3-5,1965.
President Lyndon Johnson remarked at the signing of the bill that “What this bill really does is to bring active support to this great national asset, to make fresher the winds of art in this great land of ours.The arts and the humanities belong to the people, for it is, after all, the people who create them.” The American Presidency Project,“Remarks at the Signing of the Arts and Humanities Bill,” http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=27279.
S.REP.NO.89-300 (1965). National Arts and Humanities Foundations: Joint Hearing Before the Special Subcomm. on Arts and Humanities of the S.Comm.on Labor and Pub.Welfare and the Special Subcomm. on Labor of the H.Comm.on Education and Labor,89th Cong.5,54 (1965)(hereinafter “Hearing”) (statements of/by Sen.Jacob K.Javits, Sen.Edward M.Kennedy, Rep.John E.Fogarty, Dr. Barnaby Keeney, Pres., Brown University; and Chairman,Commission on the Humanities, Roger L.Stevens, Chairman, John F.Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; testimony and statement of Francis Keppel, Commissioner of Education; John A.Ryan,President,Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, and American Federation of Teachers,AFL-CIO; Rep.John E.Fogarty; Rockefeller Panel Report on the Future of Theater,Dance,Music in America; statement of Alvin C. Eurich, Pres., Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies; remarks of Sen.Pell; statement of Francis Keppel, Commissioner of Education).
Philip Bump,”Trump reportedly wants to cut cultural programs that make up 0.02 percent of federal spending,” Wash.Post. (Jan.19,2017), available at https://tinyurl.com/lsl5rjm.
*About the Author: Emily Lanza is currently Counsel for Policy and International Affairs at the U.S. Copyright Office. She received her J.D. in 2013 from the Georgetown University Law Center. Prior to law school, she studied archaeology and worked for museums in various capacities. She can be reached at emilyla8@gmail.com.
From the Author: While many of the readers of this article are already aware of the importance of arts and humanities funding, this article, instead intends to select concepts from the legislative history that may be used to inform future discussions.
2018 US Federal Budget Proposal National Foundation for the Arts National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities NEA NEH News
Leave a comment Posted on February 10, 2017 by Irina Tarsis, Esq. art, Copyright, Estate Planning
By Heather DeSerio
Elisabeth Conroy, an Associate at Edward W. Hayes, P.C., started the stimulating presentation on estate planning for artists by giving an introduction to what a will is and followed up by providing the requirements for a valid and enforceable will. The five requirements are that (1) the will must be in writing; (2) must be signed by the person whose will it is, which is called a testator and they must be 18 years old; (3) signed at the end of the will; (4) published, meaning that there is an acknowledgement that this is your last will and testament; and (5) at least two witnesses must sign in the presence of the testator within 30 days of one another. Additionally, she spoke about choosing an executor of the will, types of bequests, joint wills, how to store and update a will when major life changes occur such as marriage, divorce, and children. Conroy mentioned that while an attorney is not required to create a will, it may be a good idea because using an attorney to draft and execute a will creates a presumption of the will’s validity. She also highlighted the commonly overlooked importance of having a living will and a health proxy, because designating someone to make health decisions if a person becomes incapacitated is a good idea. She ended her remarks by recommending that people should execute a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) authorization so the person that serves as the health proxy will also have access to a person’s medical records to make important life decisions.
Estate Planning for Artist- Trusts, Foundations, Fiduciaries, and Valuing Art
Peter Arcese is a trusts and estates practitioner who also serves as an Adjunct Professor at NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies. He delivered quite an impassioned and intriguing presentation about estate planning for artists and why it is unique for artists. He highlighted various types of trusts that exist. Arcese repeatedly stressed the importance of appointing a qualified fiduciary. A qualified fiduciary means the fiduciary should understand what the artist’s intentions are and be competent enough to deal with auction houses, the artist’s family, lawyers, and accountants. Arcese also noted that a fiduciary should be savvy and knowledgeable enough to make decisions that are in the best interest of the artist and can deal with complex issues that may arise pertaining to funding the foundation and overseeing the administration of the estate. In addition, it is important that the fiduciary does not engage in self-dealing. This is so that the artist would avoid many problems that other artist foundations have faced such as was illustrated by the infamous Rothko case.
Art valuation is a complex topic that was briefly discussed on several occasions. Arcese told the audience about the important benefits of achieving discounts for the benefit of taxation of the estate when an artwork is sold. He pointed to the David Smith case and the DeKooning case.
Funding the Foundation:
Artist foundations have got their initial funding in ways such as:
Borrowing money: The Adolph and Ester Gottlieb Foundation borrowed the first $10,000 to make grants and started with nothing else.
(*The Adolph and Ester Gottlieb Foundation was the first foundation to give money to artists.)
Funded by select gifts of art to the estate to sell off, and the proceeds are used to help get the initial funding started.
Facilitate exhibits of works in estate’s collection.
Publish a catalogue raisonné of the artist’s works.
Licensing of the copyrights in accordance with the artist’s wishes.
Life Insurance Policy: The funds received can be directed to help fund the establishment of the foundation to help pay for the initial cost of the foundation.
During Arsece’s abridged discussion about artist foundations, he emphasized key points. First, how important it is for all artist to leave clear directions about what to do and directions that layout the vision for the foundation. Next, he pointed out that foundations can be created during the artist’s lifetime or created upon death. In conclusion, Arsece reviewed the types of foundations: there are public foundations, which are based on the corporation structure, and there are also private foundations that are run by family members or named individuals by the artist.
Many questions from the audience concerned matters of funding the artist foundation and tax issues. One question specifically asked if it is a good idea to create a trust to minimize taxation in comparison to having a will. The answer was a resounding yes from several the panelist that confirmed that a trust can save on taxes. There is a one-time credit that the IRS Code allows of up to $5,500,00.00 of the value of artwork that is not subject to taxation. This exempt amount of artwork can be set aside in a trust and will not be taxed again. The monetary value of artwork is determined from the date when the artist passes and the appreciation in value of the work is free of taxation. It is advised to consult an attorney that is experienced in setting up trusts so that they tailor the plan to accomplish whatever tax savings are best depending on the individual’s goals.
Artist that Gift Artwork During Artist’s Lifetime
When a living artist gifts artwork to someone, there are three general requirements that must be established to prove that it was an inter vivos gift: First, there has to be an intent to divest the title by the donor, second the acceptance of artwork by the donee, and third, delivery of work from the donee to the donor. Once all three requirements have been established, then an inter vivos gift has been perfected and it is no longer part of the artist’s collection.
Redfern highlighted several issues with gifting. Each example indicated problems with trying to figure out what happened with the gift during the deceased artist’s lifetime when there was conflicting circumstances, conflicting documents, or the artist’s intent was not clear. These examples illustrate that it is imperative for artists to make their intentions clear in written document that clearly describes their intentions at the time when they gift is given and indicates what rights are intended to be gifted.
He concluded his presentation by talking about the Deadman Statute. It is an evidentiary rule that applies in court when trying to establishing if a gift was actually gifted because one cannot rely upon what a Deadman told a person. There must be documentation that is notarized by a disinterested party to defeat a Deadman Statute. This also helped reinforce the idea about getting things in writing and even notarized by disinterested parties so that a person can establish that an inter vivos gift was intended to be given by the artists and if any copyrights were granted with the inter vivos gift besides possession of the artwork.
Carol J. Steinberg, one of the organizers of the program as well as a speaker, discussed copyright law because these rights are important for artists to consider when a person is creating an estate plan for the artist’s artwork. She stressed the importance of understanding that the law grants artists six set of copyrights, which exists separately from the physical artwork itself. Under the Copyright Act of 1976 Section 106 the six different rights are:
the reproduction right;
the right to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;
the distribution right of copies or phonorecords;
the right to perform the copyrighted work publicly;
the right to display the copyrighted work publicly; and
for sound recordings, the right to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.
Steinberg also informed the audience that artists can choose to retain or assign the six different copyrights independently from one another. The assignment can be done while the artist is still living or upon the artist’s death in a testamentary document that indicates the artist’s intentions for the artwork’s copyrights.
She tied it all together by mentioning that the copyrights are commonly administered after the artist death by the artist’s foundation or estate in accordance with the artist’s wishes as indicated in the artist’s testamentary documents. This is an important remark because with the rise of the internet there has been an increase in litigation involving issues such as the unlicensed reproduction, distribution, and creation of derivative works involving items such as a catalogue where the artwork is reproduced in a picture or a reproduction of the artwork is displayed on a picture on a website that features the artwork. Sometimes this occurs when owners of the physical artwork fail to realize that they need a license from the artist’s foundation or artist’s estate which are in charge of administering the artist’s copyright in a work of art after the artist is deceased. This licensing of an artwork’s copyright is necessary to ensure that another is not infringing on the artist copyrights that are still retained by the artist’s foundation or estate.
“Establishing the Artist Foundation” is a vital topic in the art industry as demonstrated by the challenges encountered by high-profile foundations such as the Rothko and Warhol Foundations. Many artists, galleries, and auction houses are transforming their business strategies by incorporating artist management to help meet the needs of aging artists. Crassly put, dead artists are big business for sales, exhibits, and catalogue raisonnés. As mentioned by Robin Pogrebin in her New York Times article, “Decision Time For Aging Artist,” aging artists such as Chuck Close are beginning to think about planning for their families now rather than simply leave it to a gallery to manage their estate as artists commonly have done in the past. Artists are taking an active role in establishing a plan for their work to curtail many of the problems other artist’s estates and foundations have faced. In deciding how to develop a plan for the artist’s artworks the legacy, preservation, copyright, licensing, establishing an artist foundation, establishing a trust, and the selection of a qualified fiduciary are all important elements that merit additional education and planning to ensure the will of the artist is honored posthumously. The artist should consult a qualified and experienced attorney to establish a plan and guide them through the process of estate planning for artists.
In re Rothko, 84 Misc. 2d 830, 379 N.Y.S.2d 923 (Sur. Ct. 1975), modified, 56 A.D.2d 499, 392 N.Y.S.2d 870 (1st Dep’t), aff’d, 43 N.Y.2d 305,372 N.E.2d 291, 401 N.Y.S.2d 449 (1977); on remand, 95 Misc. 2d 492, 407 N.Y.S. 2d 955 (NY Sur. Ct. 1978).
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Leave a comment Posted on January 31, 2017 January 31, 2017 by Irina Tarsis, Esq. art, authenticity
In Other News: Allegory, Fakes, HEAR Act, Synergy and Street Art
Follower of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, “The Blind Leading the Blind” (circa 1600). Auctioned by Sotheby’s at the Master Paintings & Sculpture Evening Sale (Jan. 25, 2017). Estimate: $100,000 – 150,000. Hammer w/ buyer’s premium: $137,500.
Old Masters Faked The 2011 private sale involving a “modern forgery” was undone five years later, when Sotheby’s auction house recognized that it sold the work under a false attribution to Frans Hale. The handsome sum of about $10 million dollars paid for the “Portrait of a Man” was reported as reimbursed by the auction house to the buyer in 2016. In January 2017, Sotheby’s again made the news for denouncing authenticity of another painting and naming its consignor a defendant in a breach of contract complaint. The second painting, known as “St. Jerome” by an old master from Italy, has been tested by a lab Sotheby’s acquired in 2016 and reported as containing modern pigments. Funds at stake from the sale of “St. Jerome” – over $650,000.
The existence of fakes in the art market is no news. The steps taken by different players (private and public actors) to address claims and evidence of misattribution and fraud are newsworthy.
Eyes on HEAR Act In January 2017, Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP issued an advisory regarding the new federal law, Public Law No. 114-308, known as the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act extending the statute of limitations for claims to Holocaust-expropriated art. See full text here.
From the advisory: “The HEAR Act operates by displacing individual American states’ statutes of limitations with the new six-year deadline. The HEAR Act does not create a federal right to recover artwork, and does not create a uniform federal statute of limitations for all Holocaust art claims. Claimants must still allege a right to recovery under existing state law, based on theft or conversion. Although Congress’s stated intention is for these disputes to be decided on the merits, because of an exception set forth in the law, the new law will not end quarrels about which state’s law applies. . . .”
Beyond the Artmarket Room for meaningful artist/lawyer relationships are explored in an essay co-authored by Sonia K. Katyal and Joan Kee for Hyperallergic entitled “How Art and Law Can Work Together Beyond the Marketplace” (Jan. 12, 2017).
Excerpts from the essay: “… More recently, lawyers and artists alike have struggled over competing claims to freedom of artistic expression and those made in the name of defending intellectual property rights. … The questions raised regarding racial difference, inequality, and appropriation are difficult ones, and, over time, it has become increasingly urgent that we engage with both the languages of art and law to make sense of how to answer them.
Today, the need for these conversations — particularly as they address non-white, female, queer, and transgender artists — becomes particularly acute in the wake of Donald Trump’s election, who has demonstrated an explicit intent to perpetuate unequal treatment before, and despite, the law. How does the art world respond, and how can art lawyers support the need for a critical response?…”
Tasseography The newly minted President of the United States is making the news and inspiring artists to apply themselves. In “A Tremendous Roundup Of Street Art Ridiculing Donald Trump” (Jan. 27, 2017) and “‘It’s going to make art great again’: the street artists taking on Trump” (Jan. 25, 2017), The Huffington Post, The Guardian and others have picked up on the fact that “street artists have a lot to say about President Donald Trump….”
Leave a comment Posted on December 21, 2016 January 26, 2017 by Irina Tarsis, Esq. art, Art law, Contemporary Art, film review
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Leave a comment Posted on November 23, 2016 November 23, 2016 by Irina Tarsis, Esq. art, Museum Funding, Museum Policy, tax law
Broad or narrow: Taxman reviews “Private” Museums
By David Honig, Esq.*
Last year, on November 20, 2015, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) launched a review of eleven US private museums in response to a recent New York Times Article that exposes a possibility for abuse of 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. Every “domestic or foreign organization described in section 501(c)(3)” is considered a private foundation, unless it fits into one of four scenarios, dealing with where the organizations “support” is derived, set out in § 509(a). Senator Hatch’s investigation did not include all nongovernment owned museums as the term “private museum” suggests – after all many of the most renowned museums in the United States, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Gallery of Art in Chicago are private museums even if they are not thought of as such. Instead, Senator Hatch looked into a subset of museums that only have one donor and are designated private foundation under 26 U.S.C. § 509.
The investigation, which concluded in May of 2016, sought to determine whether, and how much, these museums benefit the public. This inquiry was ignited by the fear that these private foundation museums are offering minimal benefit to the public while affording the donors substantial benefits including tax deductions. For example, the New York Times article mentions that at least two of these museums, Glenstone in Potomac, MD and the Brant Foundation Art Study Center in Greenwich, CT, require reservations and “[are] open only a few days a week to small groups.” The reason this matters is the tax advantages afforded to charities with 501(c)(3) nonprofit status are granted because of the public benefit these organizations provide. Logic suggests, if these museums are not providing a public benefit they should not be given preferential treatment. The real issue is not whether these museums provide a public benefit but whether the benefit provided can justify the private reward. In other words, should individuals capable of purchasing multi-million dollar artworks be afforded a discount on creating and maintaining private viewing salons? Before determining whether these museums provide enough or any public benefit some background should be given, first on the museums themselves then on the tax benefits associated with this setup.
The United States has a long history of encouraging private enterprise. This can be seen in airlines, railroads, institutions of higher education and charitable organizations. The investment of private capital helps alleviate some of the financial strain felt by the state, while encouraging private organizations or individuals to provide public services. Seeking to reward private investment for the public good, “Congress sought to provide tax benefits to charitable organizations, to encourage the development of private institutions that serve a useful public purpose or supplement or take the place of public institutions of the same kind.”
One way Congress provided tax benefits to charitable organizations was by creating 26 U.S.C. § 501. Section 501(a) grants tax exempt status to certain organizations. Relevant here are corporations “organized and operated exclusively for … charitable … or educational purposes … ”. Seeking to take advantage of this section of the internal revenue code collectors have created organizations and donated artworks to them in order to establish museums for their private collections.
The Tax Scheme
One benefit of creating a nonprofit organization and donating artworks to it is clear – if the museum charges an entry fee the revenues can be used to maintain the artworks and space without the donor having to pay taxes. By relinquishing ownership of these works the donor no longer bears sole responsibility for upkeep. Since 9 of the 11 museums surveyed by Senator Hatch do not charge an admission fee, most of the founding donors have to donate more funds to insure the works and premises do not deteriorate. On its face, the free admission scheme is detrimental to the founding donor. In addition to paying for the upkeep, although possibly at a subsidized rate, the founding donor must also relinquish control of the works to the nonprofit corporation for the corporation to be eligible for the tax benefits under the internal revenue code.
Taking these issues in turn, the first, having to pay for upkeep, could actually be a benefit. The internal revenue code, specifically section 170, allows a donor to deduct a “contribution or gift” made to, among other organizations, corporations that qualify for 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. This means that besides possibly paying a reduced rate for the upkeep and maintenance of her art and a facility to house said art, the founding donor can deduct the amount donated to the museum to cover these costs.
In addition to allowing deductions for contributions section 170 also allows a donor to deduct gifts made to authorized organizations. By converting a collection that was privately owned by an individual into one that is held by a museum for the “public’s benefit” the founding donor can use money that would have been personally spent for upkeep of the art to reduce her taxes. By combining tax exempt status granted by 501 with the deductions afforded for charitable contributions in section 170 a founding donor is duly rewarded. Note: the internal revenue code places a limit, usually 50% of gross income, on the amount of deductions a person can take each year for charitable donations.
Tax deductions are not the only reason for a founding donor to entertain creating this type of organization. Once the works are donated the museum owns them and a donor no longer has no control, or so it would seem. If the donor serves on the board of directors, acts as president or serves in some other executive position the donor could execute control over the works of art. In fact, this is exactly what “many” of the founding donors are doing. An example of this is the Broad in downtown Los Angeles, whose founders Eli and Edythe Broad serve on the Board of Governors.
A donor that serves on the board or as an executive will be involved in not only how the artwork is managed but more importantly the operations of the museum. This includes determining hours of operations, admission price, what works should be bought and sold, displayed, put into storage or on loan. It is easy to see why Senator Hatch was worried about abuse of these tax exemptions since donors are able to reap huge tax benefits while seemingly giving up little in their enjoyment and control of art. In fact, some of the museums surveyed said that they are located on land owned by or partially by the founding donor. In other instances, museums are located on land adjacent to the donor’s residence. In order for this scheme to make sense and continue the public must get some benefit.
“[C]harities [are] to be given preferential treatment because they provide a benefit to society.” It follows, that if there is no benefit to the public then the charity should not be given preferential treatment and a donor should not be allowed to receive tax deductions for donations to that charity. But the issue here is not one of existence of benefit it is one of degree of quality and quantity of benefit. The question ultimately boils down to whether or not these museums provide enough public benefit to be given preferential treatment and how is that determination made. In other words, what is the required level of public benefit that an organization must produce in order to receive preferential tax treatment under section 501 and how is it determined?
Unfortunately, it is hard to determine whether action actually benefits the public and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) guidelines are not very helpful on this front. Besides being open to the public for viewing and informing the public of access, it really is not clear what is required of an organization to achieve tax exempt status.
There are clear benefits to founders of private museums but the question remains are those benefits enough. For instance, of the 11 museums that received a letter from Senator Hatch 10 of them responded that they engage in or have engaged in loan programs. This means that a work of art that would normally be displayed in someone’s home or sit in storage was put on display for a large number of people to see. The creation of more museums allows works to be displayed that otherwise would sit in a basement or storage facility and never be seen by the public.
Not only does the creation of more museums allow for more work to be shown it allows different work to be shown and curated in different ways. Private museums allow the whims of one person to dictate how and what art is acquired and later displayed. This type of museum does not have to focus on what it thinks would be the most educational exhibit for its visitors as traditional public museums do. Instead the exhibits can focus on art or whatever emotion or reaction a curator wants to provoke. This too is “educational” in its own right even though it is not designed with that purpose in mind.
Maybe the best example of this would be Eli and Edythe Broad’s Broad Museum in Los Angeles, California. The Broad is the poster child for what these types of private museums can be. It is open most days of the week and draws large crowds of young people. In addition to its visitors having a lower average age than the national average of museum goers, 32 compared to 45.8, as of March 2016 70% of the Broad’s visitors were younger than 34 years old.
The Broad represents what these museums can be, but just because others do not do as much as the Broad does not mean they do not do enough to benefit the public. The limited hours and days of operation and reservations requirements can be justified: the founder wanted to create unique and more intimate experiences for visitors. Should it matter that this type of public benefit is intangible?
Ignore for a second the obvious benefit of public access to these artworks. Also ignore the limited circumstances some of the museum allow the public access to these works – a reason for reduced access might be that these museums are new and the operating expenses associated with keeping more traditional matters currently do not make sense because of number of guest expected. How is it determined whether the public receives enough or any benefit at all? Maybe the benefit is not clear or scientific, maybe it is indirect, or maybe it will take years to manifest but once it does it will be incalculable. The fact is public benefit can be difficult to pinpoint.
This difficulty is reminiscent of a Copyright issue raised over 100 years ago. When approached with the question of whether an advertisement could be protected under copyright law in Bleistein v. Donaldson Lithographing Co., Justice Holmes pointed out that judges should not determine the worth of “pictorial illustrations”. His reasoning, which boils down to the tastes of any portion of the public should not be looked down upon. Following that logic, maybe Congress, the IRS or a court adjudicating the issue of public benefit should determine that if any portion of the public benefits from an organization that organization should be allowed to keep its tax exempt status.
Note: This Article is being reprinted with the permission from Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Journal, Fall 2016, vol. 27, no. 3, published by the New York State Bar Association, One Elk Street, Albany, New York, 12207
*About the Author: David Honig is a member of the Brooklyn Law School Class of 2015. While attending law school he was a member of the Brooklyn Law Incubator & Policy (BLIP) Clinic. He is admitted to New York and New Jersey state bars. From 2015 to 2016 he served as a postgraduate fellow at the Center for Art Law. David is currently pursuing an LL.M. in taxation from NYU Law.
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Leave a comment Posted on October 27, 2016 October 27, 2016 by Irina Tarsis, Esq. art, Copyright, First Amendment, Museum Policy
Building an Anthology from Ephemera: The Legal Issues of Constructing a Political Art Archive
By Scotti Hill*
Predating the advent of words, images have long served as an elemental tool of communication, working to describe and persuade. As the modern era’s complex political systems galvanized and alienated large masses of the globe’s population, the combination of image and text has forged a new path for the rapid dissemination of ideas. In response, political protest manifested into artistic expression, a form preferable to violence.
Attempts to preserve artifacts from political protests have been undertaken with renewed urgency. From the fight for democracy in East Asia to socio-economic and racial activism in the United States, urban areas are drowning in visual and textual evidence of dissatisfaction, reminders of the angst of political alienation. Over the past several years, political events and tragedies have also mobilized archivists hoping to preserve the emotional and historical potency of movements’ artistic output.
Spontaneous graffiti, posters and artifacts have accompanied large systematic protests, such as Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter, raising concerns about the effectiveness of unauthorized artmaking. In Paris and New York, items gathered in the aftermath of terrorist attacks were collected with a sense of emotive resolution. The ephemera of political activism for these protests-posters, makeshift sculptures, graffiti, installations-have been cautiously assembled in archives. Building upon a recent New York Times commentary that investigates the increasing frequency of artifacts archives across the globe, this article explores the legal issues accompanying the preservation of political art, including how copyright, trademark, nuisance, First Amendment and vandalism claims can complicate the already murky notions of artistic authorship in political protest art.
Copyright: Is Political Protest Art Protected?
Copyright defines the possession of an exclusive legal right to literary, artistic or musical material. Normally, the creator retains copyright despite a change in ownership of the physical object. The government retains the copyright to public artworks it commissions, although under the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA), artists can still enjoy certain protections for state owned works, including preventing the work’s destruction or removal from the site in which it is placed. As the first federal legislation of its kind, VARA effectively grants artists a moral right to protect their creations. VARA does, however establish criteria for what creations are protected, including original and exclusive works crafted from media such as paintings, photographs, sculptures and drawings.
The U.S copyright law is designed to protect intellectual property from being improperly appropriated, exploited and disseminated by third parties. U.S. copyright law’s fair use exception allows for reproduction in cases of educational commentary, criticism, reporting or teaching. In determining fair use, the individual or organization seeking to reproduce the image must articulate the underlying philosophical purpose accompanying the image and take care to not impede the original work’s potential marketability.
Generally, copyright protection for an artistic creation is broad, covering any work of original authorship crafted in a tangible medium that “possesses at least some minimal degree of creativity.” Do temporary or impermanent creations, like those used in political protests, retain the same protection?
Creators of political protest art frequently operate under the guise of anonymity, working to shape or build upon a dialogue. Such items are rarely crafted as art items, let alone designed to be exhibited after the event they are intended to address, shore up or put down. Instead of being cherished in a pristine exhibition space, works are created to be portable and destructible so that they may serve as instruments of a movement, rather than merely symbols of it. Such items include posters that loudly parade the epitaphs of the movement, sculptures symbolizing political ideals, and flyers and pamphlets that participants hand out to eager members of the public. Most importantly, these items are intended to be shared, to elicit a desired reaction in furtherance of the larger philosophy for which they serve. The disposability of such items negates the care and attention paid to traditional artworks, decreasing the incentive to protect item through legal means. With the foregoing logic in mind, it’s seemingly unlikely that creators of political protest art can assert robust copyright protection for works not intended to survive beyond a certain event. As it stands, the record is silent on the issue of artists seeking copyright protection for works used in political protests, yet the advent of protest artifact archives may bring this once ancillary issue front and center.
Ferguson, Street Art and the Politics of Anti-Institutional Artmaking
The 2014 death of Michael Brown rendered Ferguson, Missouri a hotbed of political and social unrest. In turn, artists and intellectuals resisted a media firestorm that presented the city’s extreme political unrest in a monolithic fashion. In his communal art project, Push Forward, artist Damon Davis pasted images of raised hands in various locations throughout Ferguson. With the permission of local business owners, whose establishments had been boarded up and closed to the community, these stirring images served as visual symbols of collective solidarity. Davis’ works, and many others like it, signal an increasing acceptance of graffiti as art, with more business owners allowing their structures to serve as mediums or ‘canvases’ of expression.
In the 21st century, street artists have seized a growing spirit of dissatisfaction with cultural institutions-namely museums and galleries for which pioneering Land Artist Robert Smithson deemed “mausoleums of culture.” Now, art forms such as graffiti bring art directly to the people, and while the last decade has ushered in an unprecedented degree of cultural acceptance to the medium that was once dismissed as vandalism, this arena is still abound with legal issues such as nuisance.
As a common law tort, nuisance claims can be either public or private, and, arise from unauthorized and inappropriate uses of one’s property. Often, nuisance claims aim to reverse the tortfeasor’s action, which has affected the property’s value or the owner’s reasonable use of land. The illegal placement of graffiti has served as a logical iteration of nuisance, with the art form existing as a literal defacement of property-regardless of aesthetic value or societal appreciation.
Still other forms of political artmaking evoke public nuisance claims, raising concerns about the viability of art rooted in illegality. VARA’s protection of public artworks is contingent on whether or not the work is of “recognized stature.” In affirming a legal standard for unsolicited street artworks, English v. BFC&R E. 11th St LLC held that VARA fails to protect illegally placed graffiti. While not all graffiti is protest art, its ongoing popularity attests to the viability of public avenues of expression. Like many of history’s most daring and thought-provoking artworks, graffiti often dares to confront directly that which would have otherwise remained hidden.
Cataloguing Chaos: Preserving the Evidence of Terrorist Attacks in Paris, New York, and the Occupy Wall Street Movement
In the wake of major terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001 and Paris on November 13, 2015, archivists began the arduous process of cataloguing thousands of items compiled in makeshift memorials throughout the cities. In such events, archivists often struggle with determining the best procedure for both collecting the items and curating overwhelming collection.
In Paris, archivists prioritize letters and drawings above other artifacts, as these items seem to harness most eloquently the human dimension of tragedy. Archivists aim to preserve these artifacts’ emotional potency, what sociologists and intellectuals consider the most telling of the collective experience spurned by the event. The donative nature of these items negates legal concerns regarding ownership, however, preservation-determining the appropriate size of a state archive or who makes these determinations remains.
In contrast to the portable ephemera in Paris, New York’s post-9/11 archivist practices were decidedly more ambitious, relying on both small tokens of grief and large sections of destroyed structures. After the city’s terrorist attack, distorted masses of the World Trade Center were quickly isolated and stored with the intent to preserve. Their sublime presence in the 9/11 museum is emblematic of a cultural reluctance to let go, as if the fragments themselves carry with them a magnetic power to retell the trauma of that day’s human loss.
In addition to terrorist attacks, socio-political insurgencies in the West have catalyzed ambitious archives and databases. From the outset, attempts to document and preserve the Occupy Wall Street Movement were undertaken by sociologists, students and organizers. Archivists have to date thousands of items-posters, signs, photographs and messages-stored in physical and digital venues. The process has engendered a fascinating degree of debate from academics and movement insiders, many of whom question the legitimacy of archives’ underlying narratives.
Starting in 2011, students at New York University’s Moving Image Archive and Preservation Program (MIAP) began collecting items presenting the media coverage of the movement. With the help of MIAP director Howard Besser, the students dubbed themselves “Activist Archivists,” uniting under the principal goal of preserving “the spirit, decentralization, self-organization, playfulness, and whimsy of this protest movement [which would otherwise] be lost to history if the media that documented this did not survive.” The archive’s role as counter of ‘real’ history presents an empowering incentive for the process of collecting, and may well persuade other movements to make similar strides in the future.
According to the U.S. patent and trademark office, two applications were filed for “Je Suis Charlie,” Paris’ iconic rallying cry following the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack. Recently, the Washington Post proffered a commentary on the increasing frequency by which private individuals and businesses have applied for Trademarks in the wake of public tragedies.
As discussed in Dennis C. Abram’s article “Je Suis Public Domain,” opportunists see great economic potential in creative output, such as slogans that encapsulate the essence of collective spirit following great tragedy. Such attempts are rarely, if ever, legally recognized. U.S. law dictates that a trademark must have some connection to a good or service that is being promoted and visually identified so as to distinguish it from other similar products.
First Amendment and Vandalism: The Case of the Illuminator Art Collective
While material items such as posters, sculptures and pamphlets evoke the classic definition of a political artifact, performance remains an apt medium for the dissemination of socio-political critiques. Inherently uncommodifiable, performance art often prioritizes the immediate interaction of participants involved in political protests over secondary documentation in the form of photographs or videos. Groups like the Guerilla Girls, the famed feminists whose performances spurned valuable dialogue regarding institutional racism and sexism within the art world, have put art activism on the map in recent decades.
Similarly, the New York City-based Illuminator Art Collective (IAC) stages political protests at famous sites such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the United Nations Building, where these iconic structures become the conceptual canvas upon which political critiques are projected. Using a specially designed van that holds a projector on its roof, the group projects messages and symbols meant to provoke dialogue and reveal the secrets these institutions are inclined to keep hidden. The group’s tactics reveal a curious relationship between art activism and the First Amendment, as well as how the seemingly universal definition of vandalism must be altered to adapt to new technologies and artistic visions.
The group’s work highlights this fascinating intersection between art activism and law. On September 9, 2014, three members of the group, Kyle Depew, Grayson Earle and Yates McKee, were arrested for unlawful posting of advertisements, when they projected images on the façade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The images were critical of billionaire businessman David Koch, who had recently donated $65 million dollars to the museum in exchange for the museum’s public plaza being renamed after him. IAC’s projections were critical of Koch’s environmental stances, namely his denial of climate change. While parked on a public street, the van was approached by a NYPD deputy, who later seized the group’s projector equipment and arrested the three on the charge of unlawful posting of advertisements. Before these charges were formally dropped by a criminal court, the city of New York issued criminal summonses for three members. NYPL §145.30 “forbids unauthorized individuals from posting, painting or otherwise affixing to the property of another person any advertisement, poster, notice or other matter designed to benefit a person other than the owner of the property.” The law appears to be an adequate measure in protecting businesses from becoming hosts to unwanted advertisements from third parties. In instances of political protest however, does the projection of commentary on the exterior public space fit this definition? While the city of New York seemed to think so, the charges were ultimately struck down in criminal court, with IAC’s lawyer Sam Cohen rightly pointing out that a streaming projection fails to fit the standard definition of “affixing. ”
It follows that if IAC’s political projections fail to meet the definition of unlawful posting of advertisements; they similarly fail to match the legal requirements of vandalism. Vandalism is defined as the deliberate defacing or destruction of property. While it is clear that plastering a non-affixable projection to the façade of a building fails to constitute destruction, does it deface? Defacing implies the marking of a surface-though not in a severe a fashion as destruction. Therefore, IAC’s unique brand of projector activism exists as a clever exercise of first amendment free speech.
As curators and archivists undertake the arduous process of compiling artifacts for physical and digital preservation, many questions remain about the legality and posterity of protest art. What is the optimal manner by which to preserve political or artistic ephemera? Who is best situated to protect artists’ rights to create and capitalize on their own art? What do keepers of protest art see when they preserve or trade in this kind of creative output? While political upheaval and tragedy prompt inflections from diverse global communities, museum archivists and administrators as well as art dealers and collectors look to preserve the artifacts for entirely different reasons. Due to the changing and often unsettled landscape of political protest art, artists and collectors alike may find themselves in need of legal advice to obtain information about available protections and defenses.
Note: This article is reprinted with permission from Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Journal, Summer 2016, Vol. 27, No. 2, published by the New York State Bar Association, One Elk Street, Albany, New York 12207.
About the Author: Scotti Hill is a J.D. Candidate, 2018 from the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. She served as a summer 2016 intern for the Center for Art Law, and she can be reached at scottiaustinhill@gmail.com.
Conservation Cultural Heritage First Amendment Museum Acquisitions Vandalism