The Art Law Podcast

This month Katie and Steve talk about a few important art law cases from 2018 ranging from Nazi looting, to Italian fisherman discovering an ancient Greek statue, to the risks catalogue raisonné committees face when offering even indirect opinions on authenticity. The specific cases discussed are Von Saher v. Norton Simon Museum of Art at Pasadena, No. 16-56308 (9thCir. 2018); the Getty Bronze case decided by the Italian Court of Cassation; and Mayor Gallery Ltd. v. The Agnes Martin Catalogue Raisonné LLC, No. 655489/2016, 2018 WL 1638810 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Apr. 5, 2018). Notes for this episode: http://artlawpodcast.com/2019/02/06/2018-art-law-litigation-stories/ Follow the Art Law Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artlawpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@artlawpodcast

Katie and Steve speak with Nanne Dekking, the founder and CEO of Artory and Chairman of the European Fine Art Fair, about Artory's efforts to use blockchain to create a transparent registry of art sales, the general challenges to transparency in the fine art market, the problem of detecting fakes and forgeries and trustworthy counterparties, and blockchain's limitations. Notes for this episode: http://artlawpodcast.com/2019/01/07/the-promise-of-blockchain-transparency-in-the-art-market/ Follow the Art Law Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artlawpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@artlawpodcast

Katie and Steve speak with Philip Hoffman, founder and CEO of The Fine Art Group, about art funds, art financing, and financial guarantees of auctions sales. They also explore how art is performing as an asset class. Philip started the first "art fund" in 2002, and he is one of the world's leading experts on the financialization of art. Notes for this episode: http://artlawpodcast.com/2018/12/03/the-financialization-of-art-with-philip-hoffman/ Follow the Art Law Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artlawpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@artlawpodcast

Artist Aviva Rahmani speaks to Steve and Katie about her artistic practice investigating and using the law. Her current work, Blued Trees Symphony, is a musical and visual art work installed along miles of proposed pipeline expansion on land subject to possible eminent domain. Rahmani has copyrighted the work and plans to use the Visual Artist Rights Act to prevent the art's destruction, thereby frustrating the building of pipeline. Notes for this episode: http://artlawpodcast.com/2018/11/08/artist-series-aviva-rahmanis-work-with-vara-land-use-and-environmental-law/ Follow the Art Law Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artlawpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@artlawpodcast

Katie and Steve get an update from attorney Nicholas O'Donnell about the status of the lawsuit he brought on behalf of certain members of the Berkshire Museum for breach of fiduciary duty, among other claims, in relation to the Museum's sale of much of its valuable art collection to pay for operating and capital expenses. While much of the art has been sold, the members fight on. Nick explains the unusual posture of the case to our listeners. *Note: On Monday, the Massachusetts Appeals Court ended the Berkshire Museum deaccessioning legal saga by upholding a decision by the court that members of the Berkshire Museum do not have standing to sue the Museum challenging the conduct of its Board of Directors. Notes for this episode: http://artlawpodcast.com/2018/10/02/bonus-episode-berkshire-museum-litigation-update-its-not-over/ Follow the Art Law Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artlawpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@artlawpodcast

Steve and Katie discuss the Nazis' complicated and perverse relationship with fine art with attorney and author Nicholas O'Donnell. Nick is the author of the recent book, A Tragic Fate: Law and Ethics in the Battle Over Nazi-Looted Art, which tells the story of stolen and appropriated art in World War II Europe and how the U.S. legal system has been instrumental in dealing with claims for restitution decades later. Steve, Katie and Nick start with the historical landscape in 1930s Europe, and discuss some the most contentious and ongoing disputes. Notes for this episode: http://artlawpodcast.com/2018/10/01/nazi-looted-art-legal-remedies-and-limitations/ Follow the Art Law Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artlawpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@artlawpodcast

On this bonus episode, Katie and Steve discuss the recent SCOTUS case Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 584 U.S. ___ (2018). In this case, a baker claimed his First Amendment free exercise and free speech rights were violated when he was found in violation of a Colorado statute prohibiting disparate treatment based on sexual orientation in public accommodations for refusing to make and sell a wedding cake to a gay couple. The baker refused to make the wedding cake because of his religious objections to gay marriage. Although the controlling decision of the Supreme Court only dealt narrowly with the baker's free exercise, religious discrimination claim, free expression issues lurked in the background and were taken up directly and forcefully in Justice Thomas' partial concurrence. Katie and Steve discuss the free expression part of the case and its real or imagined relationship to artist's rights and government censorship of art. The Art Law Podcast is excited to showcase new musical compositions by Chris Thompson. Chris is a New York City-based music producer, arranger, and percussionist, who has been a longstanding member of the renowned contemporary music ensemble, Alarm Will Sound. Chris has also performed, recorded, or arranged for a long list of internationally recognized artists and ensembles. You can learn more about Chris and his music on his website, www.chrispthompson.com, where you can also listen to and purchase his most recent album, Lot Hero. Notes for this episode: http://artlawpodcast.com/2018/07/27/is-cake-art-and-entitled-to-first-amendment-free-speech-protections/ Follow the Art Law Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artlawpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@artlawpodcast

On this month's episode, Steve and Katie dive into the charged topic of censorship. With guest Professor Amy Adler they talk about government and non-government attempts to censor art, what the legal boundaries are and where the law actually has little if nothing to say about censorship of art. They describe applicable First Amendment doctrine, apply it to art and examine particular examples of art "censorship" from the culture wars of the 1990s through today, from both the political right and left. Notes for this episode: http://artlawpodcast.com/2018/07/02/art-censorship-and-the-first-amendment/ Follow the Art Law Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artlawpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@artlawpodcast

Katie and Steve give an update on the first round of auction sales as part of the Berkshire Museum's court sanctioned deaccessioning plan. They discuss the results of the sales, the museum's current stance, and where that leaves us (hint: dissatisfied). Notes for this episode: http://artlawpodcast.com/2018/06/11/bonus-episode-berkshire-museum-deaccessioning-begins/ Follow the Art Law Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artlawpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@artlawpodcast

On this month's podcast, we take a close look at art auctions – how they work, their place in the art market and the rules and regulations that confine/define them. Auctions at Sotheby's and Christie's now regularly net tens and sometimes hundreds of millions of dollars for a single work. Christie's recently sold Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi painting for $450 million, by far the highest price ever garnered by a piece of art at auction. At the same time, much about the auction process remains secret. The identity of the buyer and seller is often known only to the auction house, and the reserve price (below which an artwork will not be sold) is known by the auctioneer but not the bidders. While the auctioneer may not sell a work of art below its reserve price, it can bid on the work below the reserve to get the auction going. Steve and Katie discuss these issues and others having to do with regulation, transparency and potential conflicts, and welcome famous Sotheby's auctioneer Oliver Barker to take us behind the scenes of a big auction. Notes for this episode: http://artlawpodcast.com/2018/05/10/art-of-the-chase-inside-art-auctions/ Follow the Art Law Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artlawpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@artlawpodcast