About the Panelists
Dr. Sharon Hecker
Dr. Sharon Hecker(BA Yale University cum laude, MA and PhD in Art History, UC Berkeley) is an art historian and curator specializing in modern and contemporary Italian art. She is a leading authority on the sculptor Medardo Rosso about whom she has written numerous books and curated exhibitions (Harvard Art Museums, Pulitzer Arts Foundation). She was project Coordinator for Jenny Holzer at the Venice Biennale of 1990. Hecker trademarked The Hecker Standard® for due diligence on artworks and teaches courses on due diligence in Art Law LLM and Master’s Programs at European universities such as Università Bocconi in Milan and the Luiss Guido Carli University in Rome. She is Coordinator of the Expert Witness Pool of the Court of Arbitration for Art, is on the Board of Directors of the College Art Association where she serves as liaision to the Professional Practices Committee. She serves as chair of Sculpture Vetting at TEFAF Art Fair and is Chair of the International Catalogue Raisonné Association. She co-edited with Peter J. Karol Posthumous Art, Law and the Market. The Afterlife of Art (Routledge).
Peter J. Karol
Peter J. Karol is Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual Property at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law. He joined UNH Franklin Pierce in 2023, after spending over a decade as associate dean, professor, and director of the intellectual property law certificate program at New England Law | Boston. Professor Karol focuses his scholarship on intellectual property matters generally and art, museum, copyright, and trademark law in particular. He has published widely in top law reviews, including, most recently, articles exploring the doctrinal underpinnings of the Supreme Court’s recent Warhol v. Goldsmith decision, the trademark cases of the German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer and the legal implications of the rise of certificate-based conceptual and contemporary art practices. Called one of our “favorite intellectual property law experts” by Radio Boston’s Tiziana Dearing, Professor Karol also makes regular radio guest appearances to discuss intellectual property matters on NPR and is a frequent contributor to Artforum’s opinion column. Prior to becoming a full-time law professor, Professor Karol was a partner at Sunstein LLP, where he represented clients in complex intellectual property litigation matters and trademark portfolio development and enforcement. He remains Of Counsel at the firm.
Eva E. Subotnik
Eva E. Subotnik is a Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Faculty Scholarship who joined the St. John’s faculty in 2011. She teaches Copyright Law, the Introduction to IP Survey, and Trusts & Estates.
Broadly speaking, Professor Subotnik’s scholarship and research interests focus on issues of artistic intent that arise in the realm of copyright law and policy. She also focuses on particular intellectual property issues relating to the medium of photography. Professor Subotnik has written about the role of creator and user narratives in the context of originality and fair use determinations and about the intersection of authorship and testamentary intent. Her articles have appeared or are forthcoming in several journals, including the Notre Dame Law Review, Washington Law Review, Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, Lewis & Clark Law Review, Brooklyn Law Review, and Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts.
Prior to her appointment at St. John’s, Professor Subotnik was an Intellectual Property Fellow at the Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts at Columbia Law School. She practiced law at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in New York, where she was an associate in both the Corporate and Litigation departments.
Professor Subotnik received her B.A. summa cum laude from Columbia University in 1997 and her J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2003. While at Columbia, she was an editor of the Columbia Law Review. Following graduation, she clerked for the Honorable Bruce M. Selya of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the Honorable Alvin K. Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York.
Guy A. Rub
Guy A. Rub is an expert in the intersection between intellectual property law, commercial law, the arts, and economic theory. At Moritz, Professor Rub holds the Joanne Wharton Murphy/Class of 1965 and 1973 Professorship in Law and regularly teaches Copyright Law, Trademark Law, Contracts, and Law and Economics.
Professor Rub’s scholarship explores how markets shape and are being shaped by intellectual property law. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Chicago Law Review, UCLA Law Review, Yale Law Journal Forum, NYU Law Review Online, and Virginia Law Review, among others. He presented his work extensively both domestically and abroad.
Prior to joining the faculty at Ohio State, Professor Rub was an associate at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP in Los Angeles. He worked as a software programmer and engineer prior to pursuing a career in law.
Professor Rub has served in various leadership roles within and outside the university. He was twice elected as the chair of Ohio State’s IP Committee. Under his leadership, the university rewrote its IP policy for the first time in 30 years. He currently serves on the University’s Senate and the Faculty’s Cabinet. Professor Rub also formerly chaired the Intellectual Property Section of the American Association of Law Schools.
