Letter to California State Assembly Re: Sale of Autographed Memorabilia

SUMMARY

The Art Law Committee (Steven R. Schindler, Chair) submitted comments related to California’s recent enactment of AB-1570, a law pertaining to the sale of autographed memorabilia, and urged that the law be amended to explicitly exclude fine art. Although the Committee recognizes that “the proliferation of forged collectibles in the market is certainly a problem worthy of legislative measures, the ALC believes that a more narrowly-tailored and clearly-articulated statute would better accomplish the California State Assembly’s assumed goals.” Specifically, the Committee argues that the law is overbroad as to the definition of “collectible” and what sales are covered; that the law appears to misunderstand the authentication process for fine art, a market already equipped to address questions of authenticity; and that the law’s enforcement mechanism is unclear and unrefined as applied to fine art. The Committee argues that if AB-1570 is not amended to exclude fine art, numerous refinements would be necessary to properly account for the unique procedures already in place for that category of collectible, and the unique aspects of the market within which it trades.