The Times They Are a-Changin’– NYU Art Law Day’s Preview of Legal Developments

by Hanoch Sheps, Esq.

Once a year, legal practitioners and fine art appraisers descend upon New York to attend the Art Law Day conference. * Always a high point of the events calendar, the NYU School of Professional Studies along with the Appraisers Association of America prepare a cutting-edge conference on legal issues facing the fine arts field. This year was no exception. The panels presented a preview of highly anticipated developments in various art law fields. There were updates on proposed legislation at the State and Federal levels ranging from a national droit de suite to expert liability legislation to protect art authenticators. Experts from the governmental and private sectors also spoke about ongoing efforts to curb the import, sale and trade of items made from endangered species material. Finally, panelists revisited the saga of the so-called Gurlitt trove and discussed what fate awaits the vast assemblage of art. Here are some highlights:

Congressman Jerrold L. Nadler (D-N.Y.) speaks on the American Royalties Too Act of 2014 – HR 4103

The Droit de Suite – it is a household phrase in international artistic communities (and amongst signatories to the Berne Convention Article 14ter that officially recognized this right), but remains a foreign concept amongst North American notions of property and ownership.* Roughly translated as an “artist resale royalty”, the right, in theory and effect, would allow artists to recoup a fraction of the often-exponential increase in the value of their art throughout their careers. Congressman Jerrold L. Nadler (D-N.Y.) spoke about efforts in both houses of Congress to introduce the royalty at the Federal level with the enactment of the American Royalties Too Act of 2014. Congressman Nadler conceded that the recent congressional elections will undoubtedly affect the legislative agenda, but he remains positive about the likelihood for bi-partisan efforts in what he calls the “Intellectual Property arena”. He cites as support a recent report issued by the U.S. Copyright Office in favor of the royalty, and looks at the positive feedback from similar programs in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.