by Amineddoleh & Associates LLC | Dec 14, 2022 |
In this annual newsletter, Amineddoleh & Associates is pleased to share some major developments that took place at the firm and in the art world during 2022.
LITIGATION AND SETTLEMENT UPDATES
The “Goodwill” Marble Bust
The Marble Bust looted during WWII that was found in Texas and will be returned to Germany
Possibly the most talked about art law matter of the year was the return of an ancient marble bust to Germany. The 2,000-year-old artifact likely originated from Rome, but it was acquired by Bavarian King Ludwig I and then placed in a German museum from where it was looted during World War II. Our client, Laura Young, bought it at a local goodwill shop and ultimately returned it to Germany. It was an honor to advise her and work with her to negotiate the internationally celebrated return.
Copyright Infringement Lawsuit
At the start of the year, we filed a litigation in Iowa on behalf of a muralist, Chris Williams. His work was featured in an advertisement that aired during the Super Bowl. We are currently representing him in a lawsuit for copyright and a violation of his moral rights on the Visual Artists Rights Act.
ART & IP NEWS
One of our favorite things about the art market is that there is always something exciting happening in the art world. Some of our most popular blog posts from this year are found below.
Celebrities and Fossil Collecting
Skeletons in the American Museum of Natural History
In this blog post, our firm examined legal matters involving dinosaur fossils and skeletons, including purchases made by Nicolas Cage, Leonardo DiCaprio, and The Rock. Auction houses have faced growing interest in buyers seeking dinosaur bones. The sales have gotten a lot of attention, perhaps due to the trend of major celebrities making large, public bids for the pieces. As a result of the publicity, countries around the world from which fossils are illegally excavated have presented auction houses with ownership claims, based on their country’s property laws. Copyright law was also an issue for auction houses selling dinosaur skeletons this year because skeletons that are partly comprised of replica bones may come with intellectual property rights in the manufactured pieces.
Fashion Law and Protecting Brands
When does the law protect fashion brands? And what is the cost to other artists? Our firm answered these questions in this posts inspired by the Fall 2022 Fashion Weeks taking place around the world. Prominent fashion designers have been known to incorporate logos of other brands into their designs, often as a part of social commentary. Even where artistry is the intent behind the repurposed logo, these designers face financially devastating intellectual property claims from major the brands and companies who own the rights to the logo. Our firm considered how to balance protecting consumers from consumer confusion with giving designers the artistic liberty to create fashion that sparks social commentary. Read more on our website.
New York Raises Holocaust Awareness Through New Law
Gustav Klimt’s Woman in Gold
New York State now requires museums to post which artworks on display have links to the Holocaust. The New York bill, which was signed into law on August 10, 2022, accompanied two other Holocaust related bills aimed to combat rising reports of antisemitism. Our firm revisited the difficulty of proving provenance for items acquired during the Holocaust and shortly following WWII. The restitution of these works to families from which the pieces were stolen is incredibly healing.Unfortunately, such claims for the return of priceless works of art often have to overcome enormous legal hurdles, such as the difficulty of proving provenance in court and FSIA claims brought by countries who now claim possession. Read more on our website.
LAW FIRM UPDATES AND EVENTS
New Team Members
Our firm welcomed two new members to join our team, Yelena Ambartsumian and Maria Cannon. Yelena joins the firm as Counsel, while Maria joins us as an associate. We are proud to have Yelena and Maria as members of our team, and we wish them both a warm welcome.
Firm Founder Listed by Chambers
This year, firm founder Leila A. Amineddoleh was recognized by Chambers and Partners High Net Worth Guide for her work in Art and Cultural Property Law. The publication named Leila “a brilliant attorney,” and “a go-to for cultural property matters.” The publication also remarked on her passion for art law and her wealth of experience in the field. Read more here.
Art Law Conferences
Congratulations to our firm’s founder Leila A. Amineddoleh, who successfully chaired the 14th Annual NYCLA Art Law Institute, one of the most anticipated events of the year. Earlier in the year, in March, Leila presented the keynote speech at Yale University’s conference “Dura-Europos: Past, Present, and Future.” The conference focused on the systematic looting of Dura-Europos that took place during the Syrian civil war and during prior millennia. Leila presented on the history of cultural heritage looting and modern efforts to prevent such plunder. Read more about the conference here.
Leila was also a speaker at the Salmagundi Club, one of the oldest arts organizations in the U.S. Her other speaking engagements included moderating a panel for Art Appraisers’ Association Art Law Day and for Fordham’s Intellectual Property Law Journal’s 30th Annual Symposium, “Duplicate, Decolonize, Destroy: Current Topics in Art and Cultural Heritage Law.” In addition, she spoke at conferences hosted by Cardozo School of Law and Notre Dame School of Law. At Cardozo School of Law, Leila spoke on a panel at a symposium discussing cultural property ownership. Read more here. At Notre Dame’s Journal of International and Comparative Law Symposium, she served as panelist at the symposium, “International and Comparative Approaches to Culture”, and discussed antiquities disputes and repatriation of cultural heritage.
Associate Claudia Quinones presented on the “What’s New in Art Law?” panel at the 14th Annual NYCLA Art Law Institute. Her presentation covered title and ownership disputes, new technologies, and climate change activism in the art world. Details about the conference can be found here.
Yelena’s speaking engagements included Fordham Law School’s 30th Annual Intellectual Property Law Journal Symposium as a panelist on “Erased: Protecting Cultural Heritage in Times of Armed Conflict.” She also was a panelist at American University of Armenia’s Center for Truth and Justice Inaugural International Conference, “Cultural Heritage at Stake: How to Preserve, Mitigate Damage, and Punish Destruction.” Read more about the conference here.
IN THE PRESS
Leila appeared in the New York Times a number of times this year, in addition to Artnet, The Art Newspaper, the Observer, the Washington Post, USA Today, People Magazine, and Town + Country Magazine. She discussed a variety of topics, including the art market, cultural heritage disputes, Nazi-looted art, intellectual property disputes, and art collecting practices. Leila also appeared on WPIX-NY and in a number of podcasts.
CLIENTS AND REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
Sculpture Garden Commission at the Smithsonian Institution
We are very proud to have served as legal counsel to famed artist Hiroshi Sugimoto for a number of his commissions, including his highly anticipated sculpture garden at the Hirshhorn Museum, part of the Smithsonian Institution.
Auction Sales
We worked with a number of clients to assist them with consigning art for sale at auction. One of our clients is the collecting family that consigned three works by David Hammons for the Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Auction and one work at the Contemporary Curated sale earlier in the spring. Sotheby’s touted these works and their provenance, after the paintings remained with our clients for nearly five decades. All four of the works performed well, with two of them selling for above their high estimates.
Trademark Clients
We continue working with brands, artists, and companies by advising and serving as trademark prosecutors. Included among our clients are luxury watch brands, fragrance companies, and musicians, including multi-platinum songwriter and produced Jonas Jeberg.
Advising Art Market Players on New Platforms
While we often work with traditional art market participants (including artists, collectors, foundations, auction houses, museums, art advisors, and art experts), we are also happy to be at the forefront of the art and cultural world. As new art platforms and technologies develop, we are pleased to work with exciting online galleries, NFT platforms, novel art collecting exchanges, and artists exploring new media. We look forward to continue cutting edge work in the art sector.
On behalf of Amineddoleh & Associates, we wish you a happy and healthy holiday season and a wonderful and prosperous new year.
by Amineddoleh & Associates LLC | Sep 27, 2022 |
As everyone in the fashion industry knows, September means one thing: fashion week. With New York Fashion Week already behind us, Milan Fashion Week coming to a close, and Paris Fashion Week mere days from kicking off, the intersection of art, high fashion, and daily life has come together in multiple shows celebrating streetwear as haute couture (although this isn’t the first time fashion brands have taken visual inspiration from art on the street).
Looking rumpled, it turns out, is an art form. Custom, high-end designer streetwear is no new phenomenon. Take fashion designer Dapper Dan’s (Daniel Day’s) styling of hip-hop moguls in the 1980s. Through innovative silk-screening and layering techniques (and at a hefty price-point), Dapper Dan fused high fashion with an everyday wearability, heightening the drama of the growing hip-hop music scene. For Dapper Dan (who goes by “Dap”) and others who take guidance from his work, including Savile Row’s Rav Matharu of Clothsurgeon’s bespoke streetwear, the challenge of creating these garments lies in blending high-end luxury with the lifestyle the current wearer is already living. This sometimes involves the use of someone else’s corporate branding in the streetwear’s design. As a result, promoting and selling the final product can become nearly as tricky as the production of the garment itself.
Dapper Dan, for example, famously faced legal challenges from Italian fashion giants Gucci and Fendi, for screen-printing their logos on his leather pieces and outwear designs. In fact, Dapper Dan faced so many lawsuits from Fendi, Gucci, and other luxury brands after incorporating their logos into his designs that he was sued out of business in 1992 and forced to close his Harlem boutique.
The reason fashion houses are often quick to initiate lawsuits when they see their work being used elsewhere is because fashion is a billion-dollar global industry. Yes, artistic ingenuity, originality, and fame are at stake when a designer’s work or logo is being copied without authorization – but so is the potential for a large settlement.
Often, the exact amount that is paid in a settlement is kept private between the parties to the lawsuit, such as the case between Hell’s Angels and luxury designer Alexander McQueen. In 2010, Hell’s Angels sued McQueen for using its “winged skull” motif on bags and jewelry. Not only did McQueen settle with Hell’s Angels for an undisclosed amount, but the suit became so intense that the fashion house actually promised to destroy the merchandise that contained the Hell’s Angels winged skull design.
The secrecy element begs the question: how much is an undisclosed settlement worth in a fashion trademark lawsuit? Gucci’s lawsuit against fast-fashion brand Guess may provide some insights. In 2012, Guess paid Gucci $4.7 million dollars in damages for trademark infringement of Gucci’s interlocking “G” and diamond print logo that Guess used on shoes and other accessories. However, this settlement, astonishing as it was, was considered a blow to Gucci, because it was only a portion of what Gucci had requested in litigation (a staggering $221 million dollars). Gucci’s expectations in this case serve to illustrate both the motivation and the mindset of big fashion houses in their dogged pursuit of trademark claims.
While protecting artistic originality is certainly one of the benefits of fashion trademark lawsuits, along with preventing consumer confusion, there is a strong argument against initiating trademark-based lawsuits involving streetwear brands, specifically. This is because streetwear style can be traced to the intersectionality and collaboration behind the 1970s hip-hop movement. The community-building expression of the diasporic cultural narratives of Black, Latinx, and Caribbean histories continue to provide a foundation for the styles seen on this fall’s runways. The roots of streetwear, both on stage and in the audience, are principled on the sharing, refining, and reworking of culture. Thus, streetwear must reference (and sometimes infringe upon) our worship of consumeristic branding, in order to use those same brands to tell a new story.
Due to this process, Dapper Dan (“Dap”) is a good example of a streetwear designer whose artistic freedom thrives on appropriating other designers as a form of cultural commentary. In the words of rapper Darold Ferguson, Jr (“A$AP Ferg”), [w]hat Dap did was take what those major fashion labels were doing and made them better.” In doing so, “Dap curated hip-hop culture.” Through this lens of Dap as a “cultural curator,” Dap’s forced closure of his boutique in 1992 becomes even more heartbreaking, because it was the result of legal challenges brought against him by large fashion houses with significantly greater financial resources. This worked against his emergence as both an outstanding artistic talent and a cultural icon.
A framework for streetwear designers to cohabitate with luxury brands in the industry in a way that is artistically and economically beneficial to both sides is clearly required. Fortunately, for Dap, this came to fruition in the re-emergence of his Harlem boutique in 2018, reincarnated through his son’s opening of a new Harlem store. The joint venture was backed by none other than Gucci – the same Gucci whose legal challenges once threatened to ruin Dap.
Dap and Gucci’s collaboration provides a basis for streetwear designers to obtain artistic freedom to reinvent styles through commentary on current culture, the results of which construct a stage to effect social change. At the same time, streetwear brands are not forced to appropriate luxury trademarks to spark activism through fashion. Avoiding trademark infringement in streetwear is a tall order, but it can be done. At this year’s fashion week, it was done flawlessly.
Take Disco Inferno & 14N1’s Fall 2022 show entitled More Fashion, Less Gun Violence, to witness a stunning evocation of streetwear fashion’s ability to tell the story of humankind. The show brings hope to an incredibly dark shared history, and does so through an impeccable (if casual) fit.
When checking out the shows this year, keep an eye out for the intersection of streetwear and high-fashion, and how the combination references the roots of the American hip-hop cultural movement. Notice the dominance of luxury logos featured on runway models and front-row attendees, alike. Should brands be prevented from reworking luxury trademarks in their designs in order to criticize contemporary culture? When should the law protect the fashion houses, and their economic stakes, by protecting their marks?
by Amineddoleh & Associates LLC | Aug 6, 2022 |
We are pleased to announce that “The Research Handbook on Intellectual Property and Cultural Heritage” was recently published by Edward Elgar Publishing. Our founder authored the chapter, “Cultural Heritage, Galleries and Auction Houses.” As an internationally regarded expert on cultural heritage law, Leila was invited to contribute to important publication. Her chapter discusses the historical development of cultural heritage protection, major antiquities controversies, and ways in which these ownership disputes are resolved. The book’s editor, Irini Stamatoudi, is a lawyer at the Supreme Court in Athens (Greece) and a Law Professor at the University of Nicosia (Cyprus). She also served as the General Director of the Greek National Copyright Office, Ministry of Culture and Sports.
The book is available for purchase here.
by Amineddoleh & Associates LLC | Apr 5, 2022 |
In our spring newsletter, Amineddoleh & Associates LLC is pleased to share some exciting developments that took place at the firm during the past winter.
LITIGATION UPDATES
The mural in Des Moines, Iowa shown in the Super Bowl commercial.
Chris “CAW” Williams, Maze, 2018
Amineddoleh and Associates LLC is representing Iowa-based muralist Chris Williams in a case against the Midwest grocery chain, Hy-Vee. Williams’ mural in downtown Des Moines, Iowa was featured in a 2019 Superbowl advertisement promoting Hy-Vee’s partnership with Oprah Winfrey’s O, That’s Good! Brand without the artist’s authorization. The case involves copyright law and VARA (the Visual Artists Rights Act), given the defendants’ unlicensed use of the image and lack of credit to Williams as the artist of the mural. The lawsuit seeks damages for the unlawful commercial use and appropriation use of Mr. Williams’ work. Read about the litigation in an article published by The Art Newspaper here and for more details, you can go to our website.
ART & IP NEWS
Cultural Heritage and Art in Ukraine
The world watched anxiously as tensions rose, and then erupted, between Russia and Ukraine in late February. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has led to the most tragic casualty, the widespread loss of human lives. As this horror unfolds, art world professionals are also concerned about the loss of art and heritage while the conflict rages. We published a blog post delving into the risks to art collections, museums, cultural sites, as well as other art and heritage in Ukraine posed by the conflict. It is available here. Several days later, we were disheartened to confirm that the conflict resulted in the destruction of 25 artworks by renowned Ukrainian artist, Maria Prymachenko, after a museum in Ivankiv burned down.
Restitution of Mexican Antiquities
Cultural heritage is also at risk across the Atlantic Ocean. We published a blog post discussing how Pre-Columbian/Pre-Hispanic objects are often looted or smuggled from Latin America due to their high resale value and sold abroad. Recently, however, Mexico has taken several steps to recover its cultural artifacts and enforce national patrimony laws. Read more about the restitution of Mexican antiquities and the role of international cooperation on our website.
Dealer with Ties to Looted Antiquities Detained in Paris
Leila Amineddoleh at the repatriation ceremony in 2020 in her role as the Egyptian cultural heritage law expert.
Roben Dib, a dealer suspected of supplying high-profile museums (including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Louvre Abu Dhabi) with looted antiquities, was recently transferred to France to face charges of gang fraud and money laundering. Authorities believe that Dib acted through an intermediary (expert Christophe Kunicki) to engage in the large-scale trafficking of looted artifacts from Egypt and the Middle East. Previously, Kunicki had sold a looted golden sarcophagus to the Metropolitan museum for €3.5 million. A subsequent criminal investigation by Assistant District Attorney Col. Matthew Bogdanos exposed serious flaws in the museum’s provenance research, after which the museum issued an apology and formally repatriated the sarcophagus. Our founder served as the Egyptian cultural heritage law expert in this matter and attended the repatriation ceremony in 2020. You can read more about the sarcophagus’ journey here.
LAW FIRM UPDATES AND EVENTS
Art Law Conferences
In March, our firm’s founder, Leila Amineddoleh, served as a panelist at Notre Dame’s Journal of International and Comparative Law Symposium. At the symposium, “International and Comparative Approaches to Culture”, Leila discussed antiquities disputes and repatriation of cultural heritage.
At the end of March, Leila served as the keynote speaker at Yale University’s conference, “Dura-Europos: Past, Present, Future.” This event focused on the systematic looting of Dura-Europos that took place during the Syrian civil war. Specifically, Leila presented on the history of cultural heritage looting and modern efforts to prevent such plunder. Read more about this conference here.
Examples of Benin Bronzes, looted art from Africa at the center of repatriation discussions.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images
Additionally, in January Leila participated in the webinar “Repatriation of African Artifacts: A Challenge for History and Property Rights,” hosted by African Liberty. The restitution of looted artifacts from Africa has formed part of an ongoing debate in several countries, particularly in Europe and the US (as former colonial powers). Leila discussed the recent focus on remedies for these issues, particularly the repatriation of the objects to their countries of origins and the grounds for doing so. We previously explored the subject of the Benin Bronzes in our ongoing Provenance Series, which you can access here.
Upcoming Conferences
This spring, we have additional conferences at which members of our firm will be speaking to look forward to.
Our associate, Claudia Quinones, will be presenting at a workshop organized by The European Society of International Law (ESIL) Interest Group ‘The EU as a Global Actor’ (IG EUGLOBAL). The event will be hosted by the University of Glasgow and focuses on “International Law and Global Security: Regulating an Illusion?”. Specifically, Claudia will speak on ‘Cultural Protection as a Key Component of Global Security.’ Information about the event can be found here.
The Parthenon Marbles on display at the British Museum in London.
Photo Credit: Dylan Martinez/Reuters
Leila will also bring her expertise as a speaker to the 28th Annual Cultural Property Conference at Cardozo School of Law. As part of a panel on cultural property and international human rights trends, Leila will discuss the policies and polities of the Parthenon Marbles. Register and read more about this conference here, and learn more about the Parthenon Marbles on our website.
We look forward to both Leila’s and Claudia’s discussions at these upcoming events.
Art Law Publications
A number of recent cases have left some artists uneasy about the scope of the Fair Use Exception and the use of copyrighted materials in appropriation art. This has led to a shift in the landscape of copyright law. In fact, last month the U.S. Supreme agreed to hear arguments in the closely-watched case involving the Warhol Foundation. Leila commented on these shifts to the legal landscape in an article she wrote for the Institute of Art & Law titled “Fair Use in US Law: The Path to Marano v. Metropolitan Museum of Art.” Please contact us or the Institute of Art & Law for a copy of Leila’s informative article.
Associate Claudia Quinones was also published in the Santander Art and Culture Law Review (SAACLR). Her article, “On the Borderline – Using National and International Legal Frameworks to Address the Traffic of Pre-Columbian Antiquities between Mexico and the United States,” discusses historical and recent approaches to the illicit traffic of antiquities originating in Mexico. It further explores legal and non-legal remedies to curb this traffic. You can read her article on the SAACLR website.
CLIENTS AND REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
Leader in the NFT Market
World’s first NFT vending machine
As discussed in our last newsletter, Amineddoleh and Associates has been one of the first law firms to work in the NFT space – both through our creation of the unique purchase and sale agreement for NFTs. Our clients include Monax, Nifty Gateway, private buyers and sellers, and corporations involved in investing in these assets. Our founder has also participated in a number of conferences focused on this topic, at locations including the University of Zurich, the Foundation for Art Law, and the New Museum in New York City.
As NFTs continue to dominate the art market, Leila had the opportunity to talk with the Associated Press about the world’s first NFT vending machine.
Music Spotlight
Art law encompasses any artistic expressions, including music. We have written a number of blog posts discussing the protection of musical instruments as well as the provenance of musical instruments and manuscripts. Given our passion for the subject, we are excited to announce that Amineddoleh and Associates is currently working on a number of music related matters.
The first matter involves valuable stolen classical music instruments which we are seeking to return to their rightful owner (our client).
In addition to working with a number of high-profile clients on their intellectual property portfolios, our firm is also representing Danish-born producer and songwriter Jonas Jeberg, known for writing and producing songs like Panic! At the Disco’s “High Hopes”, the Jonas Brothers’ “Rollercoaster,” Demi Lovato’s “You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore,” and Selena Gomez’s “Fetish” ft. Gucci Mane, as well as many others. Amineddoleh and Associates is advising Jeberg on his trademark portfolio.
Upcoming Happenings
After our client’s successful sale of a work by David Hammons at Sotheby’s in March (a sale that realized a price greater than the projected estimate), our client has three additional works that will be up for auction at Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Sale in May. We look forward to attending this auction as the art market continues its post-pandemic upswing.
by Amineddoleh & Associates LLC | Mar 21, 2022 |
Amineddoleh & Associates LLC is proud to be representing muralist Chris Williams in a case against Midwest grocery giant Hy-Vee. Williams is suing Hy-Vee for the unauthorized use of his mural in the company’s Super Bowl commercial narrated by Orpah. The case involves copyright law and VARA (Visual Artists Rights Act). You can read a bit about the case in an article by The Art Newspaper in an article HERE. We are serving as lead counsel, and we are pleased to be working with excellent local counsel in Iowa at Goodman/Keller P.C.
