|
Welcome to the Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard
LLP website. We will be posting notes of interest about the firm
and about developments in the areas of law in which we practice.
If any of the visitors to our website wish to contribute notes on
topics of interest, we would be pleased to consider them for inclusion
with attribution. Thank you for visiting us.
Art Perspectives on Copyright
Judith Bresler will be the guest speaker at the November program
of the Copyright Committee of the Entertainment, Art and Sports
Law Section of the New York State Bar Association. Topic to be announced
– but it will, of course, relate both to art law and copyright
law.
Begged, Borrowed, or Stolen:
Whose Art Is It Anyway?
Judith Bresler will be addressing the Copyright Society of the U.S.A.,
New York Chapter, as their Luncheon Speaker on January 16, 2003.
She will be discussing, in the above-entitled talk, the historical
artistic tradition of artists “borrowing” from one another,
and how this tradition fits (or fails to fit) with the framework
of U.S. copyright laws.
On Buying Art: Some Pointers for the Art Collector
When a collector buys a work of art for his or her collection, whether
through public auction or through a sale by private treaty with
a gallery or private dealer, the collector should be concerned with
two main issues: title and authenticity.
Title: It is always good procedure for
a prospective purchaser of art to verify the title and provenance
of an artwork before buying it. This is particularly crucial with
transactions occurring in New York as the case law in New York State
interpreting the Statute of Limitations for lawsuits to recover
lost or stolen art, or to collect damages for the exercise of unlawful
dominion and control over lost or stolen art, tends to favor the
aggrieved original owner over a bona fide purchaser. The principal
manner in which a prospective purchaser can protect against acquiring
stolen art -- whether such art was taken in a simple theft or seized
as plunder during World War II -- is to contact the Art Loss Register
to ensure that no party has filed any ownership claims in connection
with the artwork.
Authenticity: The artwork that a purchaser
acquires must be, in terms of authorship, what it is described to
be. Under New York law, a seller’s opinion concerning an artwork’s
authenticity may well give rise to an express warranty, if the seller
is an art merchant (that is, an art dealer, art gallery, or auction
house). It is important to bear in mind that the statute of limitations
for a lawsuit involving breach of warranty for authenticity is only
four years. Therefore, the prospective buyer of an artwork would
do well to have the artwork appraised (an appraisal determines dollar
value) and authenticated (an authentication determines authorship)
by an independent appraiser or art expert prior to making the purchase.
At the very least, the artwork should be authenticated by an independent
art expert shortly after purchase, so that, in the event of an authenticator’s
conclusion that disputes the warranties made by the art merchant,
the purchaser is not time-barred from bringing a lawsuit, if necessary,
to protect his or her interests.
Daytime Emmy Nomination
to "Arthur"
And once again the very popular children's series "Arthur"
has been nominated for a daytime Emmy Award. We recognize the great
work of our client and Arthur's creator, Marc Brown, and the folks
at WGBH-TV.
CDAS Attorneys Join Real
Screen Panel
Steve Sheppard and Bob Freedman will reprise their roles on a panel
at Real Screen in Washington, DC, in February, 2003. The panels
are mock negotiations. Last year Steve represented Jeff Tuchman,
an independent producer, and Bob represented a fictional cable network's
vice president, Ed Hirsch (in real life Vice President, Programming
of Court TV). Last year the panel was held before a standing room
only audience. Get there early in February.
Second Circuit Affirms Decision
in Random House v. Rosetta Books
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed the
district court's decision in the Random House v. Rosetta Books
case on electronic publishing. David Wolf wrote the winning amicus
brief for the Authors Guild and the Association of Authors Representatives.
Lion's Gate Acquires North
American
Rights to Under Hellgate Bridge
The video/DVD release by Lions Gate Entertainment of CAVU Pictures'
film "Under Hellgate Bridge" is scheduled for mid-November.
The release is part of an agreement in which Lions Gate Entertainment
has acquired most of the film's North American rights. Robert L.
Seigel negotiated the deal on behalf of CAVU Pictures. .Given its
success in self-distributing the film theatrically, CAVU Pictures
has formed a distribution company, CAVU RELEASING, which has acquired
worldwide rights to the feature film THE HOLY LAND, directed by
Eitan Gorlin, which was the Grand Jury Prize winner for Best Feature
Film at the 2002 Slamdance Film Festival. CAVU will be theatrically
releasing "The Holy Land" in early 2003. Bob Seigel negotiated
the deal on behalf of the new distributor. The Sundance Channel
has acquired domestic television and "video-on-demand"
rights to Doug Sadler's film "RIDERS." The cable channel
has scheduled the film to air in late December. The deal was negotiated
by Bob Seigel and the film's producer's representative Backer Productions
on behalf of the producer.
AIVF Legal Series
For the third year CDAS sponsors a ten part series of legal seminars
led by Innes Smolansky on the legal and business issues for development,
financing, production and distribution of independent films, television
projects and documentaries. This year’s series will continue
until the summer of 2003. Upcoming topics are: the law of copyright
and how to protect your ideas; selling and buying a screenplay;
film finance with private equity, film finance for cable tv; international
co-productions; music in film and television; distribution agreements.
AIVF’s website should be consulted for the exact dates. www.aivf.org
|
