A Case for Law as an Artistic Medium

By Caroline I. Keegan.

The contemporary art industry and the legal community differ notably in their conceptions of art. The two worlds do not agree on what art is, a disagreement that causes some artwork to have no legal protections, while giving a legal pass to other artists to create works the art world may wish would be disbanded. At the intersection of art and law, artists find inspiration and new ways to express themselves using law as their tool.

The legal world’s conception of “visual art” is spelled out by the U.S. Copyright Act and is both a traditionalist and reductionist take on the subject:

A “work of visual art” is—

(1) a painting, drawing, print or sculpture, existing in a single copy, in a limited edition of 200 copies or fewer that are signed and consecutively numbered by the author, or, in the case of a sculpture, in multiple cast, carved, or fabricated sculptures of 200 or fewer that are consecutively numbered by the author and bear the signature or other identifying mark of the author; or

(2) a still photographic image produced for exhibition purposes only, existing in a single copy that is signed by the author, or in a limited edition of 200 copies or fewer that are signed and consecutively numbered by the author.;...