What Is Art Law and Why It Matters
Art law is a relatively new and niche area of law, but its influence on the art industry is growing. This field of law encompasses a wide range of legal issues affecting artists, collectors, galleries, dealers, and museums. It involves intellectual property, contracts, taxation, and international law, among other things. Understanding its fundamentals is important for industry participants as well as any current or future legal practitioner. At its core, art law deals with the creation, purchase, sale, protection, and transfer of works of art. It includes, but is not limited to, issues such as copyright infringement, ownership disputes, authenticity disputes, breach of contract, consignment agreements, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and looted art . For example, an artist may be concerned about whether his or her work of art is being properly credited and protected under copyright law. A collector may be wondering whether a piece of art he or she purchased at an auction is authentic. An art dealer may have a dispute with a gallery it consigned a work of art to. And a museum may be facing the proverbial "sting" of an unexpected heir claiming ownership of recently-discovered, looted art. Several organizations handle legal issues related to works of art, including the New York State Bar Association’s Entertainment Arts and Sports Law Section, the New York City Bar Association’s Art Law Committee, and AIPPI, the world’s premier worldwide appeal based on intellectual property. Indeed, the intersection between law and art is paramount to ensure artists are duly protected and art transactions are conducted fairly.
What Is an LLM in Art Law?
The Art Law LLM or specialized LLM in art law, typically entails advanced academic study in legal issues surrounding art and the art market. LLM students examine a broad range of topics including international law, intellectual property regulations, copyright, international trade law, privacy, liability, criminal law, and specific issues relating to the visual arts. An art law LLM program will often allow students to dive deeper into specific fields in art law such as restitution law, cultural heritage law, or both.
Most of the LLM programs with an art law focus will set the stage by offering a course on the legal aspects of art transactions. These introductory classes typically cover the constitutional and statutory law governing the transfer of title and intellectual property rights in works of visual art. They often cover in depth the various laws governing the export and importation of cultural property, also known as material cultural law. They may also expand to general issues relating to litigation, taxation, and the regulation of the art market.
In addition to basic coverage of intellectual property and international art law issues, some schools offer specialized courses in art law, covering such topics as:
A specialized LLM series will likely include courses on contracts and liability, trade secrets, securities and bankruptcy, and estate planning, among others. It is increasingly common for these courses to require students to write and submit a master’s thesis, on a global art law topic of the student’s choosing.
Best Universities Providing LLM Programs in Art Law
Several universities and institutions are leading the way at the graduate level in providing LLM degree programs and concentrations in art law, art business, and related fields. Among the LLM degree programs noted for their excellence and appeal are:
Sotheby’s Institute of Art (London) Located in London and New York, Sotheby’s Institute of Art is one of the leading postgraduate institutions focusing on art and art business studies. The MBA in Art Business offered by its London campus is divided into courses in contemporary art and contemporary design, and includes a connoisseurship module and direct engagement with the London art market. The New York campus offers the Master of Arts in Art Business, which also covers contemporary art and design, and includes an internship requirement and academic trips to Los Angeles and London.
University of Southampton The University of Southampton, located in England’s south, offers a truly unique LLM in Art Law and Technology Law as part of a combined master’s program. This LLM, offered exclusively as a full-time program, is designed to be completed in one year. A full-time workload consists of 180 credits across two semesters for a year of study or 90 credits per semester for two years of study for part-time enrollees. There are only a handful of notable similar art-related programs available in Europe.
University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne In addition to offering a full range of LLM programs in various practice specializations and fields of law, the university also has several related LLM concentrations. The program, which directs students toward a focus on either European or French law, is one of the longest-standing in Europe with the institution itself dating back to the 13th century. The university is known as the top-ranked institution in France for study in law and politics, and has produced a significant number of judicial and legal figures in the region’s history.
Northwestern University Northwestern’s two-year LLM in Art and Nonprofit Law is one of the few programs offered in the United States at the graduate level. The program is fifteen months in length and is primarily based in its Chicago campus, with some elements taking place in Washington, D.C., such as the annual Smithsonian Career day. The university is also the home of the Center for Art Law, which is a member-based knowledge hub and nonprofit organization that provides free resources and member benefits for art lawyers globally.
Erasmus University Rotterdam The Erasmus University in the Netherlands specializes in global economic governance, and offers a range of LLM in international and business law programs at the postgraduate level. Its one-year LLM in International Art Law is designed for those interested in working in the arts and heritage sector, such as organized museums, art galleries, and other institutions.
Career Prospects with an LLM in Art Law
For those who complete an Art Law LLM, there are a number of career opportunities that become available to them in both the public and private sectors. In the public sector, government agencies can be opened up by specialization in this area. There are, for instance, government positions in some countries dedicated to heritage restoration and other fields under a government branch devoted to culture or history. Similarly, public art and cultural resource management are two additional career paths that may be available in some government departments focusing on equity. In these roles, individuals may be drafting policies on heritage protection or working in collaboration with a law reform agency to develop or improve legal frameworks for cultural heritage preservation. In the private sector, a career in art law can involve working for law firms that deal with art law and intellectual property for their clients. Lawyers already working for a firm may wish to pursue an LL.M. in Art Law if their practice focuses on art law and intellectual property . Assistant General Counsel may also be employed by galleries and museums, where they can work with support staff who are responsible for managing cultural heritage, artifacts, and works of art at their institutions. A gallery may even have one or more lawyers on staff that handle contracts, copyright, and fiduciary responsibilities for the gallery. For higher level salaried jobs in a gallery or museum, graduate studies become a requirement in Art History or a specialized form of Art Law (e.g. Art Provenance). For collectors, galleries, insurers, and other private sector professionals interested in acquiring works for their clients or their own employ, niche consultancies may be available to this end, along with advisory roles in non-departmental public bodies, e.g. certain strategic museum authorities. The salary scale tends to be significantly higher for those working in a firm as compared to those working for a gallery or museum, but the creative aspects of the job and tangible results of work are often the prize to be gained in this specialized arena of law.
The Role of Art Law in Global Art Markets
The importance and influence of art law is felt throughout the world. Many laws that affect the art market stem from international treaties or conventions. The Berne Convention, for instance, has been influential on copyright law worldwide. While the United States did not sign the Berne Convention until 1989, many member states were already implementing copyright law protections for individual creators and artists. Copyright law continues to be an important part of the art market, such as the Visual Artist Rights Act ("VARA") in the United States, which was based on the Berne Convention.
Other international treaties and conventions, however, are viewed by the United States as being detrimental to U.S. rights. The United States government initially supported the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO") Nov. 14, 1970, Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (the "Convention"), but withdrew its support both in 1980 and again in 1984, because it was believed that the Convention would cause damage to U.S. art dealers and collectors. The Convention attempted to resolve issues related to the illicit trafficking of cultural property, which has continued to be a sensitive issue for many countries, especially developing countries, particularly with the increasing sophistication of foreign art dealers and collectors purchasing from developing countries.
The United States is familiar with treaties and conventions protecting cultural property and has enacted its own laws to protect such property. The United States implemented the Convention through the 1983 implementation and the 1986 amendments to the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act ("CPIA"). 19 U.S.C. § 2601, et seq. In addition, the CPIA contains provisions which prohibit the importation of any cultural property removed from a foreign country under specified conditions and situations.
The Cultural Property Protection Act ("CPPA") also limited the United States’ obligations under the Convention, taking the position it was not in the national interests to continue with the Convention. Such limitations were enacted due to the effect of the United States’ abrogation of the Convention, including the concern of the United States government that the UNESCO Resolution was anti-Israel and anti-American.
The CPPA also replaced the CPIA Advisory Committee with a Cultural Property Advisory Committee (the "Committee"). 19 U.S.C. § 2612, et. seq. The Committee was charged with making recommendations to the President about existing and proposed import restrictions on cultural property.
The U.S. has also withdrawn from other conventions or treaties. Among them include the UNESCO 1976 convention which sought to improve the commercial interchange of cultural property. Furthermore, on June 8, 2000, the United States Government withdrew its ratification of the UNESCO 1972 convention, which protected items such as sites, buildings, monuments, artifacts, and works of art.
Many legal issues dealing with art and the art market remain unsettled internationally. Countries around the world have attempted to enact various conventions, treaties, laws, and regulations to address such issues, including repatriation (i.e., the return of cultural property to its country of origin). However, many issues are still ongoing, and a heightened understanding of the influence of art law can help artists, collectors, and dealers navigate such legal matters.
The art market continues to expand internationally, and art law is an important part of that market. Art law covers a wide range of issues that affect artists, art dealers, and collectors on international levels. An increased understanding of art law can help the art market address various legal nuances and continue to flourish.
Trends and the Future of Art Law
The world of art law is constantly changing, particularly with the quickening pace of technological change and the stumbling economy. With regard to new technologies, intellectual property and contracts have had to evolve to some extent to accommodate them. For example, contracts between artists and record labels now have to take into account downloads and computer-readable media. Technology is also a source of legal risk; the rise of the internet has given new life to the piracy of digital media, while the advent of certain kinds of digital media have raised questions about ownership (i . e., Orbital Media’s attempt to assert ownership over digital copies of Britney Spears albums). New sources of art (including street art, which has not always been recognized as functionally equivalent to traditional art) have also posed challenges for the art industry, as has the rise of international law and the increased role of the Hague-based International Criminal Court.
Art law professionals may find themselves working on non-traditional art law issues like bioethics, if they desire to stay relevant to the world at large – and we anticipate that many will.