UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Margherita Barbagallo, Sanskriti Mohta and Nilojana Nirmalan, Dragon Argent
In summary, the English art law framework is a patch - work of interconnected statutes. Navigating this land - scape requires understanding how these laws interact and awareness of the regulatory authorities – including HMRC, the Arts Council and the Intellectual Property Office – that oversee their implementation.
• the right against false attribution prevents someone else’s work from being wrongly named as the art - ist’s; and • finally, there is a limited right of privacy in relation to photographs and films commissioned for private purposes. Moral rights cannot be assigned to another person, though they can be waived in writing. They generally last for the same period as copyright – the artist’s life plus 70 years (except for the right against false attribu - tion, which expires 20 years after death). Artists’ Resale Rights Artists’ resale rights, governed by the Artist’s Resale Right Regulations 2006, give artists and their heirs a royalty on certain resales of original works. This cannot be waived or assigned, ensuring that artists and their estates share in the increasing value of their works on the secondary market. See further at 3.3 Resale Right . 2.2 Copyright in Collaborative Artworks Copyright law distinguishes between works of joint authorship and collective works, and the distinction turns on whether the contributions of the authors are distinct or inseparable. A work of joint authorship arises where two or more authors collaborate and their contributions are not distinct from one another, meaning that the finished work is experienced as a single, unified whole. In this situation, the authors are treated as joint owners of the copyright. The key practical consequence is that any exercise of the copyright (whether assigning it, licens - ing it or taking action against infringement) generally requires the consent of all joint owners. The duration of copyright in a work of joint authorship is calculated from the death of the last surviving joint author, last - ing for 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which they died. By contrast, where a project consists of distinct and separable contributions (eg, different artists contribut - ing individual pieces to an exhibition catalogue), the work is better characterised as a collective work. In such cases, each contributor retains copyright in their own individual contribution, while the person or entity
2. Rights to Artworks 2.1 Artists’ Rights Over Their Art
Under English law, an artist’s rights over their work are primarily protected through three legal mechanisms: copyright, moral rights, and, in certain circumstances, the artist’s resale right. Copyright Copyright arises automatically under the CDPA as soon as an original artistic work is created. Copyright gives the artist a bundle of economic rights, includ - ing the exclusive right to authorise others to copy the work, to issue copies to the public, and to rent or lend the work. It also allows the artist to license the work for commercial purposes or to assign the copyright entirely to someone else. A crucial point for collec - tors and galleries to understand is that ownership of the physical artwork is distinct from ownership of the copyright. Unless there is an express written assign - ment, an artist who sells a painting retains the copy - right and therefore control over how images of that painting are reproduced, whether in catalogues, online or on merchandise. Moral Rights Moral rights are personal rights that protect the art - ist’s non-economic interests, namely their reputation and the integrity of their work. These rights were also introduced by the CPDA and apply to artists alive on or after 1 August 1989. There are four principal moral rights: • the right of attribution is the right to be identified as the author of a work; • the right of integrity allows the artist to object to “derogatory treatment” of their work, meaning any distortion or mutilation that would be prejudicial to their honour or reputation;
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