Do you like modern art, speak French and know about European copyright ...?

Note: this post also appears on The 1709 Blog

From Atiq Bhagwan (Legal and Enforcement Officer, The Design and Artists Copyright Society -- DACS) comes news that DACS has an opening for a Copyright Adviser. The deadline for submitting applications is 24 January 2013.  The details, as they appear on the DACS website, look like this:

"A challenging opportunity has arisen for a confident and enthusiastic individual to join our high profile legal team as Copyright Adviser. 

But is he keen on art?

DACS is looking for a qualified lawyer with experience in a comparable legal and/or copyright and related rights advisory environment [well, that limits the field a bit!]. A high level of understanding of UK copyright [ditto] and contract law, together with a broad understanding of copyright regimes in operation in other European countries and the importance of copyright law and its significance to creators of artistic works is required [if members of the Court of Justice of the European Union were thinking of applying, some folk might think that this would rule them out too ...]. 

An excellent command of the English language with the ability to communicate effectively in person and in writing will also be a priority. These skills should be coupled with a commitment to excellent customer service and the ability to act with discretion. 

The role will be responsible for providing a well-established telephone based copyright advice service for DACS members, and to provide copyright advice and more general legal advice to other DACS teams and to support the enforcement activities DACS carries out on behalf of members. 

A keen interest in the contemporary art market would be beneficial as well as knowledge of French and/or any other European language".

You can download the application pack here.

Mark Stephens to spearhead DACS

DACS (the Design and Artists Copyright Society) announced today its great pleasure in the appointment of Mark Stephens CBE as the new Chair of its Board of Directors. According to the DACS media release:

"Mark Stephens joins the organisation at an important time as debate continues about the future of copyright, and the global recession and public funding cuts impact on visual artists. DACS’ role in helping artists to sustain their practice and livelihood is even more critical than ever. 

Mark is a senior partner of law firm Finers Stephens Innocent, specialising in media law, intellectual property rights and human rights. Mark was instrumental in the establishment of DACS in 1984 – law firm Stephens Innocent was a home to DACS in the first years after its establishment. 

Mark Stephens says: “Throughout the past 35 years I have advocated for artists’ rights. I am thrilled and delighted to be offered the opportunity to chair DACS at a time when the economic rights of artists are under threat as never before, not least because of digitalisation and multiplatform delivery. I intend that DACS should remain at the forefront of the development of new economic models to safeguard the ability of artists to contribute in such vital ways to our cultural life ..”.

Mark replaces Andrew Potter, who steps down in December 2011 after battling on behalf of his members for the past six years.  Art & Artifice wishes Mark the best of luck in his new position and is sure that he will throw his usual enthusiasm into discharging its duties.

Artist's Resale Right Petition

As reported here, and in my article in Entertainment Law Review at the beginning of this year, for a number of years now there has been a lot of debate in the UK over the Artist's Resale Right. For those who don't know, this right allows artists to receive a royalty every time their works are resold through auction houses, galleries and art dealers. At present, in the UK, the right applies to the sale of the works of living artists. The final step, in order for the Resale Right directive (2001/84/EC) to be fully implemented in the UK is for the right to also be applied to the works of deceased artists. This is expected to happen from 1 January 2012.

However, having no doubt been disappointed by the UK government's previous action in delaying full implementation of the directive, and aware of the ongoing opposition of the British Art Market to full implementaion, DACS (the Design and Artists Copyright Society), who distributes the Artist’s Resale Right royalties to artists, has sent out a call-to-arms seeking a show of support for the artists.

DACS is asking people to sign a "Petition for Artist's Resale Right" to show their support for the right. The petition states as follows:

We, the undersigned, welcome the full implementation of the Artist’s Resale Right from 1 January 2012. We call on the UK Government and European Commission to recognise the importance of this Right in supporting artists, their families and beneficiaries.

The royalties from the Right will provide desperately needed funding for artists’ families and beneficiaries, who inherit the burden of managing an artist’s estate, including the costs of storage, conservation, cataloguing, research and restoration as well as identifying works.

So, if you feel strongly about the need for the Artist’s Resale Right to be extended to the works of deceased artists, or just want to show your support for artists – you can find the petition here.

In its call, DACS points out that "There are far greater costs associated with selling works of art that dwarf the impact of the resale right. When Alberto Giacometti’s Walking Man I sold for £58 million in the UK in February 2010, it earned £7 million in buyer’s premium for the auction house. Compare this to the £2.4 million in resale royalties which were generated by the entire UK art market during the whole of 2010."