Law and the Visual Arts

This upper-level seminar will study a range of legal and ethical issues particular to the world of visual art and its many participants (artists, galleries and art dealers, auction houses, museums, collectors, museum-goers, and others). Specific topics include artists' rights (including copyright, resale royalties, and moral rights), commercial art market transactions (including the artist-dealer relationship, auction rules, tax considerations, and questions of authenticity and authentication), constitutional freedom of expression issues, and rules governing the collection, donation, and display of visual art, particularly for museums and their donors. The course will also pay close attention to the fate of works of art in wartime, the international trade in stolen and illegally exported cultural property, and indigenous cultural heritage.  It is suggested that students have completed Fundamentals of Intellectual Property or be concurrently enrolled in Copyright Law.