It’s back, like a double-edged dagger — an éperon — Nietzsche style.  Back by popular demand, and now going on its third year, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts‘ legendary, ground-breaking, and no-holds-barred educational series for visual artists.

“Informative, thought-provoking, enlightening, sensical. These things should be taught in art school, but I’m glad I learned them here!” notes one artist. “Pure deliciousness. Challenging, spicy, enlightening,” notes another. Read (and see) what other past participants have said here.

Although fees are now attached, artists can register for individual classes or the entire series. Course starts March 20, 2012

Law School for Visual Artists

Topics that will be covered during the 5-week course:

Tuesday March 20, 2012
Introduction:
• Legal Hypothetical: Analyzing legal issues in your art projects

Tuesday March 27, 2012
• Basic business models (non-profit and for-profit corporations, LLC’s)
• Fiscal Sponsorships
• Employment issues
A. Studio and gallery assistants
B. Working as a preparator for art galleries

Tuesday April 3, 2012
• Free Speech
• Right of Privacy

Tuesday April 10, 2012
Contracts
• Consignment Agreements
• Licensing Agreements
• Commissioning Agreements

Tuesday April 17, 2012
• Intellectual Property (copyright and trademarks)

Click here to register for this course (or just one or two classes).

A source close to the contract negotiations notified Hyperallergic on Wednesday that the union and the museum have had five meetings and are unable yet to settle on a new contract.

Via Hyperallergic. [Note: the article refers at least twice to "contacts," but we believe they mean to say contracts.]

A former director of art galleries says Stephen F. Austin State University fired him illegally for refusing to judge a high school art contest sponsored by a controversial congressman.

Christian Cutler seeks reinstatement, compensatory and punitive damages for civil rights violations, and a court order prohibiting further retaliation.

Via Courthouse News Service.

Members of Teamsters Local 814 allege they are being locked out over a contract dispute with Sotheby’s. They also allege Sotheby’s is asking for pay cuts and wants to change seniority rules even after posting profits of close to $700 million. Sotheby’s has hired temporary employees to take their place.

Via NY1.

Lawyers acting on behalf of Sir Paul McCartney have stepped in to prevent a series of his drawings from being sold at auction. It appears this is a case of work-for-hire, at least in the U.S. What does UK law say about commissioned artworks? If you know, let us know.

Via the BBC.

I’ll be teaching this 5-week course, Law School for Visual Artists, at Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, starting February 2, 2011. If you’re a visual artist, don’t miss it. Oh, it’s also free!

When: February 2, 9, 16, 23 and March 2, 2011.
Where: VLA, 1 East 53rd Street, NY, NY 10022 (Auditorium)
Registration Fee: Free to visual artists

Legal issues can be overwhelming for many visual artists: relationships with galleries, appropriation practices, damaged artwork, art world employment practices, and collaborations with other artists are just some of the issues visual artists face.

With this in mind, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts has initiated a course for contemporary visual artists that will make legalese comprehensible and manageable, while giving visual artists an introduction to legal issues necessary to protect themselves and their art projects. This 5-week lecture series will cover intellectual property (copyright and trademarks); contracts, consignment agreements, and licensing agreements; basic business models (non-profit and for-profit corporations, LLC’s); employment issues with studio and gallery assistants; artist websites; as well as issues in public art and commissioning agreements.

The classes will be taught by VLA’s Associate Director, Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento

This class series is open to visual artists only, and includes class materials.

Class series will take place on the following Wednesdays: February 2, 9, 16, 23 and March 2, 2011

All classes will take place from 4pm – 6pm, and will be held at the VLA Auditorium (1 East 53rd Street, 6th floor, NY).

To register for this free lecture series, please e-mail the following information (your name, e-mail address, artistic medium (film, video, sculpture, painting, drawing, etc.), and years of professional practice) to Luis Nieto Dickens at lndickens@vlany.org before January 23, 2011.

Please note: Seating is limited, and thus unfortunately we cannot accommodate every registration. In order to be registered for this lecture series, registrants must attend all 5 classes. You will receive an e-mail confirming your registration on January 24, 2011. Please do not contact us regarding your pending registration.

This program generously sponsored by The AG Fund and The Matisse Foundation.

I’ll be on NYC’s WBAI Radio (99.5 FM) on Friday, Nov.5th, speaking with radio host and friend Susan Lee about legal issues for artists. The show is called You and Your Money, and runs from 10:30am to 11am. We’ll be covering a bit of everything: from contracts, corporations, and LLCs, to copyright, contracts, and artist/gallery relationships. You can listen in via web here.

I’ll also be at speaking to The Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law Society (IPELS) of the New York University School of Law tomorrow about art law with law students while enjoying a great lunch and drinks. They’re a super group with intelligent and challenging questions, and always fun and exciting to speak with. Really looking forward to both!

It’s bad enough that copyright litigation isn’t cheap. Add the emotional, physical, and psychological toll it takes on litigants and you have a good recipe for surrender. I talk about this quite a bit with artists who ask me if they should pursue litigation against infringers, or litigation against copyright owners by “free culture” advocates wanting to test (and expand) the fair use standard under copyright law. The answer: according to some litigators, a plaintiff is going to spend not only quite a bit of money, but the time requirements will also drain a plaintiff’s creative output by exhausting her physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Instead of spending time in her studio, an artist will be overwhelmed with e-mails, telephone calls, and meetings with her lawyers, not to mention the discovery phase. If she’s lucky (and I’m being sarcastic here), she’ll spend a bit less time in settlement talks.

Sure enough, and just in time for my next copyright class, the photographer embroiled in the AP-Shepard Fairey lawsuit has decided to drop out of the three-way battle. Mannie Garcia has told the LA Times that “the legal proceedings have ‘taken a toll on [Garcia] personally and professionally. He thought he’d be better suited to focus his efforts on what he knows, taking photographs like the Obama image.’”

The AP has also decided to drop their claim against Mannie Garcia. In case anyone has forgotten, both the AP and Garcia were fighting over the copyright to the now infamous photograph of Barack Obama.

The LA Times also reports that there are settlement talks in the works. The Times article can be accessed here.

UPDATE: August 23, 2010. 5:25pm EST

The Associated Press is very pleased with Mannie Garcia’s withdrawal. The AP’s official statement below.

AP pleased with withdrawal of Mannie Garcia from Shepard Fairey case

The Associated Press is very pleased that Mannie Garcia has withdrawn from the case with prejudice, meaning that he cannot refile his claim against the AP. The AP has not wavered in its belief that Mr. Garcia was a staff photographer at the time he took the image of then-Sen. Barack Obama, that AP properly employed Mr. Garcia, and that AP is the rightful copyright owner of the photo in question. Further, the AP is pleased that Mr. Garcia voluntarily withdrew without any payment or consideration of any kind — this was not a settlement.

In a Court hearing on Monday, Judge Alvin Hellerstein indicated that he would sign the stipulation and enter the order. Also in Monday’s hearing, the judge set both a summary judgment schedule and a trial schedule for the case involving Shepard Fairey. The AP is happy to have these dates set. The AP continues to be confident in its position that the use Fairey made of its photo is not fair use, but one that should have been licensed so as to help ensure the AP’s photographers will be able to continue creating new works. The AP looks forward to resolution whether through summary judgment or trial on the merits. — From Paul Colford, AP Director of Media Relations

Kelly Denato, of Brooklyn,  is suing a New York-based animated cartoon studio, alleging she’s been denied royalties she’s entitled to for designing a character that became the namesake of a Cartoon Network show, Ellen’s Acres. She says in the suit that she was due 25% of all revenues stemming from book sales, merchandising and animated motion pictures like television shows. The suit seeks damages in excess of $1 million.

Via the Wall Street Journal.

Quiet week overall, but some good stuff on copyright.

Michael Cohen, of the Trademark Blog, has a great synopsis of the recent 9th Circuit decision regarding the registration requirement for copyright infringement lawsuits.

Alina Ng, of the Mississippi College of Law, has written a journal article on property rights and copyright. “Exclusionary property rights in creative works, arise, if at all, to protect an author’s creative integrity, validate the importance of authentic authorship, and provide personal and moral incentives for authors to produce creative works of social value.”

Ray Dowd, in his fair use Friday entry, writes about injunctions and fair use: “The Digital Millenium Copyright Act makes it a crime to circumvent encryption to rip someone else’s copyrighted materials.  So isn’t that criminal statute an impermissible prior restraint on free speech?”

Pamela Chestek has a great copyright and employment law read, teasing out a recent case between an independent contractor and a real estate agency that hired the IC. The fight was over photographs of properties for sale taken by the IC while he was working for the real estate agency. Who won? Read it here.

Last but not least, Jonathan Bailey gives us eleven free copyright protections for artists and photographers. It’s a good and quick read.