Art and Copyright

The intellectual property protection afforded to works of art is receiving increased attention by artists,museums, galleries, auction houses, publishers and their professional staff and legal advisors, as well as by those teaching or studying copyright and/or the law of cultural property. Contemporary artists are pushing copyright law to extremes. The European Union is likely to soon formally adopt an artists' resale right (droit de suite) directive. The recent adoption of the digital copyright directive will also further strengthen the rights of artists as regards the exploitation of their works via the Internet. This is the first text to specifically examine in detail the intellectual property rights protecting artistic works and artists’ rights generally in the United Kingdom. The focus is on the UK but where appropriate other relevant jurisdictions are discussed. Recent European developments and the evolving UK case law in this area including the recent House of Lords’ decision in Designers Guild v Russell Williams are also addressed. The Internet and related intellectual property rights to copyright and moral rights are considered as well, including the law of passing off, breach of confidence, trade marks and domain name protection.