Art Law & Business
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
ABOUT THE PROGRAM

The Art Law and Business program is designed according to the best standards of non-formal education in the field of art and art business. The program focuses on the legal aspects of art business, organization of the art market, protection of cultural values. 

Creative people sometimes find it difficult to understand legal issues, but if they strive for success and self-realization, they need knowledge on how to properly evaluate their art, shape the artist’s history, conduct business, enter into contracts and protect their intellectual property.

The program prepares students for the complexities and risks of the art market, provides the tactical steps needed to unleash creativity and develop a level of professionalism in the arts and art business.

 

FOR WHOM
FOR WHOM
  • Artists, photographers, illustrators, muralists or freelancers working in the field of fine arts.
  • Art market professionals or cultural operators (art managers, curators, dealers, gallery owners, auctioneers, mediators and other).
  • Startuppers that has their own art business and seek to increase their competitiveness in the market.
  • Representatives of museum, cultural or educational institutions in the field of art, those who implement grant art projects.
WE INVITE YOU TO
WE INVITE YOU TO
  •  Strengthen professional skills and capitalization of your art.
  • Change attitudes towards intellectual property.
  • Work according to the rules of the civilized art market.
  • Conclude contracts correctly.
  • Optimize and structure the art business.
  • Develop digital economy and online sales skills.
  • Develop your brand and promote it through media channels
Statistics on the industry
$ 64.1
billion - the volume of the public art market in 2019
$ 5.9
billion - online sales in 2019
4.6%
contribution of the creative industry to the GDP of Ukraine
50%
drop in sales during the quarantine
Igor Abramovich

Young professionals, including art critics and culture specialists, art managers and gallery owners, currently lack basic knowledge of the current law, the ability to resolve conflicts of private and public rights.

Igor Abramovich
Art dealer, founder of the Abramovych Art Agency
Description of formats

Module 1. Protection of intellectual property and personal non-property rights in art

Derivative art. Copyright of the work and ownership of the material form of expression, the original work. The boundaries of the intersection of artistic appropriation and copyright in contemporary art. The eternal question of the limits of copyright and freedom of expression. Personal non-property rights of the author. The doctrine of Fair use or cases of the free use of the artwork. Reputation of the artist and whether it can be protected.

Module 2. Art market and its participants. Property copyrights of the art market participants and their protection

Art market and its participants: artists, art managers, curators, art dealers, art experts, collectors and cultural institutions (galleries, museums, auctions). The interaction of art market participants with each other and the legal basis for this or why «trust is good, but protecting yourself by concluding an agreement is better». Particular attention will be paid to the property copyrights of the art market participants and their commercialization, the issue of compliance with copyright to the artwork after its sale or licensing. The lecture material will be accompanied by numerous examples from the practical activities of the lecturer and international experience.

Module 3. Contracts in copyright

Basic principles of copyright that you need to know when concluding contracts. Types of agreements in the field of copyright, their essential conditions in accordance with the law and features that are not mentioned in the legislation. The lecture will be accompanied by practical tasks to consolidate the material and will be aimed at gaining basic knowledge about the legal protection of works and the formation of skills that will: independently analyze the copyright agreements; determine whether they have all the necessary conditions; understand the content of all terms of the contract; identify gaps and inaccuracies in the terms of the contract and correct them.

Module 4. Legal diagnostics of art objects

The international art market is becoming more transparent. Legal diagnostics of art objects before purchase is already commonplace. What is it? Why and how is legal diagnostics performed? How do its results affect the liability of the parties to the contract of sale? How can it facilitate sales, better trust the Ukrainian art market and make art more attractive for investment?

Module 5. The subject of art as an asset: capitalization and monetization

The lecture introduces the student to the art market, giving an idea of the structure and functioning of the main players and the operational links between them. Attention is paid to the collector as the main buyer of art, the motivations of his actions are explained. Information on the pricing of works of art and the mechanisms that influence it are provided. The main financial instruments used by a modern collector are mentioned. At the end of the lecture, the Internet is considered as a means of selling art, examples of successful and unsuccessful online companies are provided, and the prospects for the development of the art market through digitalization are outlined.

Module 6. Museums and cultural values

The lecture will address the issues such as possibility of creating museums, the rights and responsibilities of museum owners, the formation of museum funds. Special attention will be given to the creation of museum collections and museum business. The concept of museum communication. Opportunities and options for museum earnings. The use of Creative Commons license to distribute digital museum collections. Use of museum exhibits. The concept of cultural values and examination of cultural values. Legal view of the market of cultural values in Ukraine. Types of cultural values. Who can be an expert. The purpose of the examination and the application of its results. Procedure for registration of rights to export / import of cultural values.

Module 7. Copyright in the digital age

Digital art and new media art as technology influences art. Generative art, or art that is created with the help of artificial intelligence. Art works on the Internet, whether it is possible to use everything that is freely available online. What are the features of the online art market and how modern platforms for selling art work? New trends in digitalization and the use of Blockchain technology for authentication and provenance. Copileft in art.

Module 8. International Framework for Copyright in Visual Art

Origins and rationale of intellectual property law, copyright in particular. International harmonization and reciprocal enforcement via the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of 1886, and subsequent revisions and related Treaties and Conventions to date. Current international and national copyright frameworks worldwide. Classification of original visual art forms. Automatic ownership. Duration. Transfer of ownership. Licensing of use and income generation. Uses permitted by law. Violations and remedies. Originality and violation tests.

Module 9. Provenance issues in the objects acquired during totalitarian regimes

Evaluation of the importance of provenance information in determining the authenticity and future public market value of cultural objects. The specific context of avant garde or modernist works devoid of provenance information between 1917-1991 will be assessed to identify possible future avenues through which these objects might be transacted on the international art market. During the lecture, relevant case studies will be employed to identify the potential legal and financial challenges associated transacting cultural objects that bear limited or non-existent ownership histories. During the lecture, examples of information verification with detailed instructions will be given. Also the mass media materials will be given, which neglect the generally accepted rules in their activity, and the consequences of such actions will be considered.

Module 10. Protection of cultural heritage. Legal, Ethical and Moral Issues

This lecture explores the ethical question: does the owner of a private collection of culturally valuable objects have an absolute right to sell them? Or do such objects form part of a broader more public national heritage which has equivalent rights over the ‘ethical title’ of the works? Most nations have adopted legal frameworks which enable export deferrals of important cultural objects from both public and private collections. The lecture focuses on the UK, which has had both successes and failures in the retention of cultural heritage.

 

 

 

 

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Lectures were read by top US companies
Art Law & Business Studios Handbook

Handbook of legal issues in the art industry