The course examines the intersections of law and the "art world" - an interrelated complex of painters, sculptors, print-makers, art schools, dealers, auction houses, individual and corporate collectors, museums and museum personnel, art historians, critics, experts, the art press, interested foundations, the relevant people at the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities, state and local arts administrators, fakers and forgers, thieves, looters and many others, including a small but growing visual arts bar.
Among the topics this course discusses are: (1) International law and the fate of works of art in wartime: plunder and destruction as war crimes; restitution and reparations; (2) the international trade in stolen and illegally exported art and antiquities; (3) the artist's rights in the work of art: moral right, copyright and resale right (droit de suite); (4) artistic freedom and its limits (art as libel, political art and the First Amendment, obscenity, censorship through the licensing power, government patronage and support); (5) the artist's life: artists and dealer, artist and museum, commissions, live-work space, toxic hazards, taxes, estate planning, legal services for artists; (6) the collector: dealing with dealers and auction houses; consumer protection in the print and sculptural reproduction markets; counterfeit art; experts; theft, art-napping and insurance; taxes, gifts to charity and appraisers; (7) museums: the legal character and obligations of museums; trustees, directors and staff; conflicts of interests; blockbuster exhibitions and insurance; de-accessioning and long-term loans; the problem of the insolvent museum.