Data Privacy Laws in Archival Collections: Challenges in the Digital Age (CLE)
October 3, 2023
About this Event
Artists, dealers, galleries, and collectors’ archives are the cornerstone of scholarly research. Often assembled over decades, they contain a wide array of materials ranging from photographs and letters to financial documents and records that are crucial to art historical studies as well as to market transactions. However, third-party rights in these materials (including copyright and privacy rights) are often layered determining how much of these materials can be made available to the public. This constitutes an important part of the work conducted by the institutions that steward them. How are new data privacy laws going to impact existing rules and best practices? What are some of the questions these repositories should ask themselves as they are increasingly releasing archival collections that contain personal information online? Watch the Center for Art Law discuss some of the challenges faced by art organizations and businesses that collect, preserve, and disseminate archival collections in the digital age.
Sandrine Canac, Director of Digital Archival Projects at The Wildenstein Plattner Institute discussed archival standards and practices, digitization, and online distribution of archival collections. Joelys Mendez, Associate at Wilson Elser discussed what data privacy laws apply to, what the “data” is, who is collecting it, how it is used, and how to access this information keeping in mind privacy and confidentiality considerations. The session was moderated by Jana Farmer, Partner at Wilson Elser, and Board of Advisors at Center for Art Law.
About the Speakers
Sandrine Canac
Sandrine Canac is an art historian and the Director of Digital Archival Projects at The Wildenstein Plattner Institute, New York. She graduated with a PhD in Art History & Criticism from Stony Brook University and held fellowships at a variety of institutions including the Independent Study Program of the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Interdisciplinary Centre for European Enlightenment Studies. Her scholarship has been published in journals such as Perspective or the Oxford Art Journal. Sandrine’s research on art objects produced by convicts in the French penal colony of New Caledonia will appear in the Journal of Modern Craft in 2025.
Joelys Mendez
Joelys Mendez assists clients in responding to cybersecurity incidents and breaches, establishing global data privacy compliance programs, and responding to state and federal regulatory investigations. Prior to joining Wilson Elser, Joelys worked as a global data privacy consultant at a business services firm, where she managed data privacy program implementations for clients across industries and gained first-hand experience at operationalizing compliance programs. Joelys also has experience creating data privacy programs under federal and international law and across several industries including business services, pharmaceutical/medical, and hospitality. She also worked with clients to respond to regulatory inquiries and data privacy complaints under the GDPR.
Jana Farmer
Jana Farmer represents client interests in connection with design professional matters and architects’ copyright; intellectual property matters involving copyright, sale, and transfer of rights in artwork; protection of valuable creative assets; and general commercial disputes. In addition to handling cases before New York state courts, she defends clients in federal courts and in arbitrations and employs mediation to facilitate the cost-effective resolution of disputes. Jana also has experience conducting e-discovery and cross-border discovery in complex cases with large volumes of electronic evidence. Her clientele includes architects and engineers in design professional liability matters, participants in all stages of the creation and transfer of ownership in works of art, and business owners in other intellectual property and general business matters. Drawing on her international background, experience working with multinational clients, and exposure to other cultures, Jana crafts an approach based on an understanding of differences in attitudes and perceptions. With a background in the performing arts, Jana is known for her discipline and extraordinary focus on a carefully conceived resolution plan designed to determine likely exposure, identify options, and ultimately conclude in outcomes that make sense for the client. Jana interned with an international law firm while at St. Petersburg University in Russia, focusing on transactional work for a major auto manufacturer and on drafting client alerts on tax issues.
