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Anish Kapoor Sculpture Dispute Tests the Legal Utility of Terms Like Plagiarism and Appropriation

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on August 21, 2015 at 5:11 AM

A sculpture in China that is remarkably similar to Anish Kapoor’s famous Cloud Gate in Chicago is highlighting how the colloquial use of words like appropriation and plagiarism, while useful and descriptive to distinguishing the creative process, can often confuse the issue when it comes to sorting out the parties’ legal rights. While the opinion here is that Kapoor has a good case for infringement (Cloud Gate-gate?), it is not the idea of plagiarism that would support his claim.

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Topics: Donn Zaretsky, Xinjiang, Infringement, Pressure, SuicideGirls, Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, Freddie Mercury, Rahm Emmanuel, Ma Jun, Chicago Sun Times, Ice Ice Baby, David Bowie, FSIA, Karamay, Copyright, Cloud Gate, Millennium Park, The Art Law Blog, Anish Kapoor, Plagiarism, Fair Use

ABA Journal Opens Voting on “Blog 100”—Here Are My Votes

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on July 30, 2015 at 6:34 AM

The ABA Journal has opened voting again on its annual “Blog 100,” a roll of notable legal blogs. I’ve submitted votes for the following blogs (in no particular order), which I have bookmarked and consult regularly. The great thing about blogging, I have found, is the ability it gives the reader (and the blogger) to survey multiple perspectives on a subject. So when resale royalties are under discussion, or fair use, I don’t want to read only articles that I agree with or that take the same approach that I would. I also want to hear something I never would have thought of, and expand the conversation.

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Topics: Donn Zaretsky, Paul Howcroft, ABA Journal, Stropheus, Blogs, Judith Prowda, Art Law & More, London, Peter Bert, Fladgate LLP, Richard Lehun, Constantine Cannon LLP, Irina Tarsis, Blog 100, Azmina Jasani, Pierre Valentin, Silberman and Associates, Dispute Resolution in Germany, Art@Law, Boodle Hatfield LLP, Taylor Wessing, Natalia Mikolajczyk, Private Art Investor, The Art Law Blog, Art Law London, Becky Shaw, Tim Maxwell, Center for Art Law, Frankfurt

Blogs to Read and Support

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on July 22, 2013 at 5:11 AM

The ABA Journal is conducting its annual poll of the best 100 blogs. For arts and the law, the blogs I read the most are below. If you are a blog reader, consider casting a vote. We are all engaged in a great conversation, and your voice matters to what we write. If nothing else, read these blogs!

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Topics: Donn Zaretsky, Blogs, MItchell Stein, Kim Herman, Peter Bert, Association for Research into Crimes Against Art, Lee Rosenbaum, Commission for Looted Art in Europe, Plundered Art, CultureGrrl, ARIS, Harry Ekblom, Holocaust Art Research Project, Dispute Resolution in Germany, Looted Art, Marc Masurovsky, The Art Law Blog, ARCA, Trending Trademarks, Business Aviation Law Blog, Center for Art Law

Ruminations on Connoisseurship, Forgery, Knoedler and Litigation in the News

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on December 9, 2011 at 5:02 AM

We’ve been following a number of prominent stories for several weeks now and thinking about what they mean in the crossover between art and the law. It’s fair to say that a theme is starting to develop, namely, that after the Beltracchi forgery trial in Cologne, the Warhol Foundation’s decision to close its doors to authentication requests, and the brewing scandal over the authenticity of paintings sold by Knoedler and other galleries, the legal significance of knowing—and even asking—the age-old question from Art History 101—“who made that?”—has come again to the fore.

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Topics: Cologne, Forgery, Knoedler, slander, The Art Newspaper, Inc., Degas, Jackson Pollock, libel, catalogue raisonné, Wolfgang Beltracchi, Collections, Francis Bacon, The Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, defamation, Georgina Adam, The Art Law Blog, connoisseurship

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About the Blog


The Art Law Report provides timely updates and commentary on legal issues in the museum and visual arts communities. It is authored by Nicholas M. O'Donnell, partner in our Art & Museum Law Practice.

The material on this site is for general information only and is not legal advice. No liability is accepted for any loss or damage which may result from reliance on it. Always consult a qualified lawyer about a specific legal problem.

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