The Art Law Podcast

Steve and Katie speak with Dr. Carina Popovici, CEO and Founder of Art Recognition, an art and technology startup that uses AI systems to evaluation the authenticity of artworks. They discuss the problems with authentication in the traditional art market and the promise and limitations of AI in solving these problems along with some real-world examples.   Notes for this episode: http://artlawpodca...

Katie and Steve speak with WIPO economists Alexander Cuntz and Matthias Sahli about their recent article, Intermediary liability and trade in follow-on innovation,  published in the Journal of Cultural Economics in February 2023. Their research looks at how intermediaries in the art market altered their behavior after the Second Circuit's decision in  Cariou v. Prince , which was seen as greatly e...

Katie and Steve talk to Philippa Loengard, copyright expert and Director of the Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts at Columbia Law School, about the much-anticipated Supreme Court decision in Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith ,   which resets and limits the applicability of "transformative" fair use as an exception to copyright infringement.   Notes for this episode: http://artlawpodca...

Katie and Steve talk to attorney Emily Poler, founder of Poler Legal, about the recent lawsuit between the iconic French fashion house Hermès and an NFT creator, Mason Rothschild, over Rothschild's "MetaBirkin" NFTs. Hermès claimed that Rothschild infringed Hermès' trademark in the name "Birkin." Hermès prevailed on this claim (and others) in a jury trial earlier this year. Katie, Steve, and Emily...

Steve and Katie speak with Amy Whitaker about her new book with Nora Burnett Abrams, The Story of NFTs: Artists, Technology and Democracy . Amy describes her vision for the promise of NFTs for artists and a more equitable art market and discusses the democratic incentives NFTs create in this world. They discuss NFTs in the context of the current moment of uncertainty around the future of cryptocur...

Katie and Steve talk to Spanish art lawyer and scholar, Patricia Fernández, about the history of thousands of artwork seizures during the Spanish Civil War and the Spanish government's actions with respect to these artworks since then through today.   Notes for this episode: http://artlawpodcast.com/2023/01/17/the-art-seizures-of-the-spanish-civil-war/   Follow the Art Law Podcast Instagram: https...

Steve and Katie speak with appellate litigator David Barrett about the story animating a recent Supreme Court case between the heirs of Lilly Cassirer, who fled Germany in 1939 after surrendering the painting Rue Saint-Honoré Après-midi, Effet de Pluie ( Rue Saint-Honoré in the Afternoon, Effect of Rain ) by Camille Pissarro to the Nazis, and the Spanish Museum known as the Thyssen-Bornemisza Coll...

Katie and Steve discuss some recent art museum-related legal(ish) developments, including New York's new legislation requiring labeling of Nazi-looted art, the AAMD's long-awaited changes to its deaccessioning policy, and an unusual gift/sale of part of MoMA's collection.   Notes for this episode: http://artlawpodcast.com/2022/10/25/some-art-museum-related-updates/   Follow the Art Law Podcast Ins...

To open Season 6, Katie and Steve discuss the shocking arrest of Jean-Luc Martinez, director of the Louvre in Paris from 2013 to 2021, related to his involvement in the alleged trafficking of antiquities for the Louvre Abu Dhabi with French criminal lawyer Sarah Arpagaus. They discuss cultural property crimes more broadly and take a detour into the world of French criminal law and its striking dif...

Steve and Katie speak to anti-money laundering and sanctions expert Paula Trommel of Corinth Consulting about Russian sanctions and their impact on the art market in the short and long term.   Notes for this episode: http://artlawpodcast.com/2022/07/15/russian-sanctions-and-the-art-market/   Follow the Art Law Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artlawpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.c...

Katie and Steve speak with Evan Beard, currently Executive Vice President at Masterworks, about fractional ownership of art and new art securitization trends and initiatives, who the issuers and investors in this space are, and what they can achieve through these alternative investment structures.   Notes for this episode: http://artlawpodcast.com/2022/06/09/fractional-ownership-of-art-can-regular...

Steve and Katie give a brief update on New York City's recent repeal of its regulations governing auctioneers and auction practices. These regulations provided consumer protections by enforcing a measure of transparency into the auction process, such as requiring auctioneers to publicly disclose when they had a financial stake in an object being sold. Interestingly, major stakeholders appeared sur...

Susan Mumford and Chris King, co-founders of ArtAML, return to the Podcast and talk with Steve about the recent release by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN") of its "Study of the Facilitation of Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism through the Trade in Works of Art." To the surprise of Steve and his guests, FinCEN concluded that there is limited evidence of money launde...

With Katie on a parental leave, Steve speaks with Herrick Feinstein's Victor Rocco about his firm's representation of the Republic of Turkey in litigation brought by Turkey to possess a millennia-old Anatolian marble statue (the Stargazer) owned by Michael Steinhardt and sold by him through Christie's. (We previously had counsel for Christie's and Steinhardt on the podcast.)  After a trial in the...

In a re-release of last June's episode, Katie and Steve speak (again) with digital art and NFT enthusiast Jason Bailey about the sudden rise of NFTs in the art world, what they really are, why they have value, and who is interested in them and why.   Notes for this episode: http://artlawpodcast.com/2022/01/10/skepticism-and-optimism-around-art-nfts-revisited/   Follow the Art Law Podcast Instagram...

Katie and Steve speak with veteran cultural property and art lawyer, Tom Kline, about his representation of Christie's and Michael Steinhardt in litigation brought by Turkey to possess a millennia-old Anatolian marble statue (the Stargazer) owned by Steinhardt and sold by him through Christie's. After a trial in the Southern District of New York, Turkey lost for the primary reason that they could...

Steve and Katie talk to Susan Mumford and Chris King, co-founders of ArtAML, about the recent roll out of AML regulations covering art market participants in the United Kingdom, who is implicated, how they can comply, and what this means for art businesses and the culture of secrecy in the art market generally. The requirement to determine and seek documentation of the ultimate beneficial owner on...

Katie and Steve speak (again) with digital art and NFT enthusiast Jason Bailey about the sudden rise of NFTs in the art world, what they really are, why they have value, and who is interested in them and why.   Notes for this episode: http://artlawpodcast.com/2021/06/02/skepticism-and-optimism-around-art-nfts/   Follow the Art Law Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artlawpodcast/ TikTok:...

Katie and Steve finally tackle the evolving area of fair use as a defense to copyright infringement with Luke Nikas, attorney for the Andy Warhol Foundation and Partner at Quinn Emanuel. Luke represents the Foundation in its ongoing litigation with photographer Lynn Goldsmith about Warhol's use of Goldsmith's photograph of the artist Prince as an artist study for a series of screen prints. Goldsmi...

Steve and Katie speak with legal scholar Mira Sundara Rajan regarding the international landscape for artist moral rights protections, including the adoption of moral rights laws in the developing world, common law versus civil law jurisdictions, and the connection between moral rights and cultural heritage concerns. Steve, Katie, and Mira dive into two case studies: the Indian case Amar Nath Sehg...

Steve and Katie speak with British art lawyer and General Counsel of Phillips auction house Martin Wilson about European anti-money laundering regulations applicable to art market participants and their recent implementation in the UK. Generally, these regulations require art dealers, galleries, and auction houses to register with the government and undertake due diligence on every art transaction...

Steve and Katie end 2020 with a few updates on past podcast episode topics, including 5Pointz and moral rights litigation, the Painted Bride mosaic mural battle, deaccessioning in Baltimore, and pandemic related litigation. We look forward to many more interesting topics in 2021!   Notes for this episode: http://artlawpodcast.com/2021/01/08/goodbye-2020-and-some-art-law-updates/   Follow the Art L...

Steve and Katie discuss the recent deaccessioning controversies at the Brooklyn Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art, and Everson Museum of Art in light of the ethical guidelines, new AAMD guidance, and the economic and social climate. They also discuss the recent postponement of the Philip Guston retrospective at the National Gallery, Tate Modern, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and Museum of Fine Arts B...

Steve and Katie speak with old master art dealer and scholar Robert Simon about his discovery of the painting Salvator Mundi attributed to Leonardo da Vinci and sold by Christie's in 2017 for almost half a billion dollars. They discuss Simon's purchase of the painting from an obscure New Orleans auction house, the painting's painstaking restoration and scholarly review, and what we know and don't...

We are re-releasing our podcast with journalist and author Ben Lewis in anticipation of our forthcoming discussion with Robert Simon. We talked with Ben in depth about his book, The Last Leonardo: The Secret Lives of the World's Most Expensive Painting , about the history and ultimate sale by Christie's auction house in November 2017 for just over $450.3 million of the painting Salvator Mundi attr...