Overlawyered » art and artists

“Obama ‘HOPE’ poster artist pleads guilty to contempt”

Walter Olson — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 05:02:31 +0000

Locked in litigation with the Associated Press over whether his famous poster improperly infringed on the copyright of the news photograph on which it was based, Shepard Fairey did not conduct himself well. According to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, Fairey “went to extreme lengths to obtain an unfair and illegal advantage in his civil litigation, creating fake documents and destroying others in an effort to subvert the civil discovery process.” [AP]

Tags: art and artists, discovery, sanctions

“Obama ‘HOPE’ poster artist pleads guilty to contempt” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Art scholars fear authentication lawsuits, cont’d

Walter Olson — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:18:30 +0000

The Art Newspaper takes up a trend we’ve noted before in this space:

In New York, the art lawyer Ronald Spencer, of Carter, Ledyard and Milburn, agrees with Sanig. “This is a very serious problem. Specialists are often academics earning $100,000 [or less] a year and they can’t afford litigation they are fearful of being a defendant in a lawsuit, even if they should win.” He admits that there are more of these cases in the US: “It’s a cliché, but we are more litigious here.” He says that the US system, whereby the plaintiff does not have to pay the legal fees of the successful defendant, encourages this.

Tags: art and artists, loser pays

Art scholars fear authentication lawsuits, cont’d is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Treading with care in art authentication

Walter Olson — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:43:27 +0000

Highly regarded art scholars are keeping mum, or communicating only cryptically, regarding their doubts as to the authenticity of claimed works by French master Edgar Degas. Why? They’re afraid of being sued:

Unfortunately, such silence is not an isolated incident but part of what seems to be a growing trend nationwide among art experts, where fear of litigation seems to be stifling open, honest and constructive debate. Also keeping much quieter than they should on the matter of the Degas sculpture market are organizations such as the Association of Art Museum Directors, the Art Dealers Association of America, the American Association of Museums and the College Art Association.

[William D. Cohan, Bloomberg]

Tags: art and artists

Treading with care in art authentication is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Cartoonist Faces Prosecution for Videos Mocking Police”

Walter Olson — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 14:33:20 +0000

The story everyone’s talking about: if you wanted a definitive example of the dangers of overbroad “cyber-stalking” statutes, here you go. [WSJ Law Blog, Balko, Volokh, Reason, Popehat]

Tags: art and artists, online speech, police, Washington state

“Cartoonist Faces Prosecution for Videos Mocking Police” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Pixilated version of famous Miles Davis image

Walter Olson — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 13:01:20 +0000

Oh, what an expensive bet on “fair use” that idea for album art turned out to be [Andy Baio, waxy.org via @petewarden]

Tags: art and artists, copyright, music and musicians

Pixilated version of famous Miles Davis image is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“A Comic-Book History of Comic-Book Lawsuits”

Walter Olson — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:45:38 +0000

Evil Twin Comics:

Get ready for non-stop action, action, action — LEGAL action, that is! The incredible, insane true story of the American comic book industry continues with the ALL-LAWSUIT ISSUE! DC vs. Fawcett! Disney vs. the Air Pirates! Jack Kirby vs. Marvel over his stolen artwork! Steve Gerber over Howard the Duck! Don De Carlo over Josie and the Pussycats!

["Comic Book Comics #5" via THR Esq. and Lowering the Bar]

Tags: art and artists, publishers

“A Comic-Book History of Comic-Book Lawsuits” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

February 15 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:23:00 +0000

Artist Jeff Koons drops his lawsuit against maker of resin balloon dogs [Legal Blog Watch, BoingBoing, earlier]
The car pile-up happened fast, the come-ons from lawyers and chiropractors were almost as speedy [Adler/Volokh]
Andrew Thomas update: former Maricopa County Attorney intends to sue former bar president and ethics investigators [ABA Journal, Coyote]
Litigation finance: “Poker Magnate, London Firm Bankroll Chevron Plaintiffs” [Dan Fisher, Forbes] Case for champerty pleaded before ethics commission [Podgers, ABA Journal] The experience in Australia [Karlsgodt]
Judge: Kansas City stadium mascot hot dog toss suit can go to trial [OnPoint News, earlier]
How National Enquirer matched wits with John Edwards to expose scandal [David Perel, HuffPo] More: Justice Department building a case? [AW]
“The Whooping Cough’s Unnecessary Return” [Paul Howard/Jim Copland, City Journal] Theodore Dalrymple reviews new Paul Offit vaccine book [same]
Many trial lawyers yank funding from Ralph Nader operations in pique over his role in depriving Al Gore of White House victory [ten years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: Arizona, art and artists, baseball, champerty, Chevron, John Edwards, litigation finance, vaccines

February 15 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Dog dressed as Che Guevara” image

Walter Olson — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 13:19:42 +0000

It draws a lawsuit in France from the holder of the rights to the notorious killer’s famous 1960 photo. [The Sun, U.K.]

Tags: art and artists, copyright

“Dog dressed as Che Guevara” image is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Koons vs. balloon dog bookends

Walter Olson — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:16:10 +0000

Although balloon dogs existed long before artist Jeff Koons began doing showy steel replicas of them for museum installations, his lawyers have sent a cease and desist letter to a gallery over its sale of resin bookends in the form of the canine inflatables [L Magazine]

Tags: art and artists, copyright

Koons vs. balloon dog bookends is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

May 18 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 18 May 2010 05:10:08 +0000

Upside-down logic of Supreme Court’s Comstock, Graham cases: imprison youthful offenders for life only if they haven’t had protections of formal trial [Popehat, Pilon, Shapiro, Volokh, Pattis] Kennedy returns to use of international “consensus” as guide in constitutional interpretation [Shapiro, Bader]
Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal, noted scourge of misleading ad promotion (as in the Sony ghost blurber case), falsely claimed Vietnam service [Raymond Hernandez, NY Times] Cf. the curious “Harvard swim captain” claims investigated by Chris Fountain. More: AllahPundit.
Louisiana politico Theriot: my suit against online critics is meant not to shut anyone up but to pick up useful tips on governance [Times-Picayune, Jefferson Report, Volokh, NY Times]
South Carolina juries not allowed to hear evidence about seat belt use in car crashes [Pero]
More links on “Lady KaGa” Supreme Court nomination [Cato at Liberty, Ted at PoL]
Risk of “minor” injuries may result in end to Naval Academy tradition of stunt climb [John J. Miller, NRO]
“Art of the Steal,” documentary on epic battle over donor intent in case of suburban Philadelphia Barnes collection [Kauffmann/TNR, L.A. Times, CultureGrrl/ArtsJournal]
“Why Good Intentions are Often Not Enough: The Potential for Ethical Blindness in Legal Decision-Making” [Kath Hall (Australian National University), SSRN via Andrew Perlman, Legal Ethics Forum]

Tags: art and artists, crime and punishment, ethics, libel slander and defamation, Philadelphia, Richard Blumenthal, seatbelts, South Carolina, Supreme Court

May 18 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system