Art Law Primer: Copyright and Fair Use
September 1, 2023
About the Event
Are all visual artworks protected by copyright law? What rights do you, as an artist, have to control the use of your work? What rights or limitations do you have to use someone else’s work? Can someone else’s idea inspire another protected work of art? What is “fair use” and when does using another’s work become “infringement”?
Join the Center for Art Law for a refresher on copyright and fair use. This presentation was developed for artists with basic and not so basic questions, when faced with collectors or museums seeking to reproduce your work without asking for a license. Review/learn about the fundamentals, laws, and landmark cases in copyright, the accompanying rights granted to a copyright holder, the principles of fair use defense, and the importance of copyright for artists in a social media-driven and digital world. Hypotheticals and case studies were discussed to see how copyright law applies to common challenges faced by artists navigating legal issues in the art world.
About Our Speaker
Atreya Mathur | Director of Legal Research
Atreya Mathur is the Director of Legal Research at the Center for Art Law. She received her Master of Laws from New York University School of Law where she specialized in Competition, Innovation, and Information Laws, with a focus on copyright, intellectual property, and art law. She is an attorney from India and also co-founded m e r a k i consultancy, a consultancy service focused on legal academia and higher education in law.
At the Center, she conducts legal research on an array of art and law-related topics including copyright law, artificial intelligence and art, contracts, artists rights, estates, and legal issues in contemporary and digital art. She publishes articles; conducts and teaches art & law workshops; addresses legal inquiries, and contract reviews, and conducts interviews with artists on general legal concerns. She has had her papers on copyright, art, international trade, and corporate governance published in several international journals and blogs including the European Journal of Sustainable Development, the Lawyers’ Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation, Center for Art Law, and the New York University Intellectual Property & Entertainment Law Journal, and forthcoming publication in the New York State Bar Entertainment, Arts & Sports Law Journal. She has also presented her papers and research at the Central European University in Budapest and at the International Conference on Sustainable Development in Rome. She has instructed several workshops on intellectual property, copyright, and contracts for attorneys and artists at various universities, non-profits, art organizations, and institutes.
Handouts and Reading Material
Read the slides HERE.
Read the handouts HERE.
