The New York City Bar Association’s Committee on Art Law
presents
Who Owns this Image?
Art, Access, and the Public Domain after Bridgeman V. Corel
When: Tuesday, April 29, 2008; Cocktail Reception 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.;
Public Panel Discussion 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Where: New York City Bar Association, 42 West 44th Street
(between 5th & 6th Ave.), 2nd Floor
In Bridgeman Art Library Ltd. v. Corel Corp. (S.D.N.Y. 1999), a case concerning ownership of the Mona Lisa, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ruled that exact photographic copies of two-dimensional public domain works of art are not copyrightable under U.S. law, because such images are not original. Yet nearly a decade after that decision, copyright in many such images continues to be asserted.
This program addresses questions currently debated across the worlds of art, publishing, and the law: Should access to public domain artworks control uses of images of those works? When and how should custodians of public domain artworks exercise control over reproductions of them? How does contract intersect with copyright in the control of image uses? Does the image permissions hurdle play a role in the decline of art publishing, or are the complaints of critics overwrought? What is the nature of the public domain with respect to works of art?
Immediately before the program, the City Bar’s Art Law Committee will host a cocktail reception in honor of the distinguished panelists. There will be a number of VIP guests from the law, art and media worlds. Members of the press are invited to attend. Please RSVP to Oroma Mpi, Press Officer, NYC Bar Association, at ompi@nycbar.org or (212) 382-6713 by April 28th.
Moderator:
VIRGINIA RUTLEDGE
Chair, Art Law Committee, New York City Bar Association; Vice President and General Counsel, Creative Commons
Panelists:
DR. THEODORE FEDER
President, Art Resource, Artists Rights Society
CHRISTOPHER LYON
Executive Editor, Prestel Publishing
WILLIAM PATRY
Senior Copyright Counsel, Google
HON. RICHARD A. POSNER
United States Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit
MAUREEN WHALEN
Associate General Counsel, J. Paul Getty Trust
Co-sponsored by:
The College Art Association, ARTstor, and Creative Commons
About the Association
The New York City Bar Association (www.nycbar.org)
was founded in 1870, and since then has been
dedicated to maintaining the high ethical
standards of the profession, promoting reform
of the law, and providing service to the profession
and the public. The Association continues to
work for political, legal and social reform,
while implementing innovative means to help
the disadvantaged. Protecting the public’s welfare remains one of the
Association’s highest priorities.
