Merchandising artwork can be very lucrative – and riddled with hazards. How does the law protect ideas, both business and creative?

Some of our clients fly private jets, while others, we fear, may soon be driving yellow cabs. But most share a common goal (in addition to wanting crack legal advice): to profit in some way from the art world.
Roger was no exception. He came to us with questions about his business plan, which involved licensing images created by popular artists to makers of products and apparel. The problem was that Roger didn’t know a product license from a driver’s license. His previous attempts at licensing artworks had ended in disaster. Most recently, he had sought to reproduce landscape paintings on backpacks. The concept was so clever that the first artist he approached stole the idea and had the merchandise manufactured himself. Roger never saw a penny. Continue reading “Artistic License”