When to Contact an Art Lawyer: A Guide for Artists
The Art World and its protagonists often come across specific problems that must be faced by qualified professionals.
For this reason also the Law Firms have created real Departments of “Art Law” that enclose lawyers able to support art professionals, first of all Artists.
But, when do artists need an Art Advocate?
The “Art Law” is interdisciplinary and embraces private law as well as administrative law, international law, intellectual property law or tax law, for this reason there are lawyers with knowledge, skills and sensitivity, close to the art world, able to adequately support artists both in court cases and in relations with institutions, galleries and collectors, to draw up contracts and to implement any form of protection against abuse and violations of copyright.
Let’s look specifically at some case studies.
Copyright and intellectual property protection
After the sale of his or her work, an artist continues to exercise his or her rights over it: for this reason it is necessary to use an Avvocato dell’Arte if his or her rights are violated.
Contractual relationship with entities and institutions
Identifying the rules governing the purchase, sale, loan or donation of a work of art is far from simple. For this reason a lawyer can help artists to regulate relations with institutions such as museums, fairs or even auction sales.
Contractual relationship with the gallery owner and the collector
A handshake is not enough to establish a commercial relationship between Artist and Gallerist: instead, it is necessary to regulate the relationship for the Consignment and the Purchase and Sale of the works. The same is true for Collectors, who, even after the act of sale, must respect the artist’s wishes and instructions regarding the exhibition, reproduction and restoration of the work.
Sponsorships
A lawyer can be very useful to draw up a sponsorship contract that defines a relationship of correspondence between the Artist and the Sponsor in terms of offer and benefits.
Judicial protection in case of forgery, alteration and plagiarism
Artists’ rights are often underestimated and it is not uncommon for works to be plagiarized or altered from their original state or put into circulation on the fake market: a lawyer can offer support to resolve legal disputes for collectors, gallery owners and artists.
To support art professionals, such as lawyers and artists, there are new technologies such as Art Rights to protect art and its authenticity through a high-tech system in complete privacy and security, for the management and certification of works of art with Blockchain technology and Artificial Intelligence.
With Art Rights, an artist looking for an art lawyer can consult our Art Concierge section, the largest community of art professionals.
And you, are you ready to safeguard your rights?
Photo credits: Cy Twombly Foundation
