Nancy Wolff Named to 2018 Edition of the Best Lawyers in America

Cowan, DeBaets, Abraham’s & Sheppard’s Law Practice had six attorneys selected for inclusion in the 2018 edition of Best Lawyers in America list. Among them is our own, Nancy Wolff, DMLA Counsel and frequent panel member for Visual Connections. Nancy is currently President of the Copyright Society of the USA and she is a frequent speaker …


Update on Richard Prince, Appropriation and Copyright Infringement

Remember our piece awhile back on appropriation and Richard Prince? http://www.visualconnections.com/blog/the-apotheosis-of-appropriation-richard-prince/ The court cast would appear to be heating up again. To recap: From PetaPixel: In 2014, controversial artist Richard Prince had an exhibit of reappropriated Instagram images at the Gagosian Gallery in NYC, selling the prints for up to $100k each. He sought no …


Are EMOJI Protected by Copyright?

We all wonder about the legalities of using Emojis in our projects. Attorney David Lizerbram tackled this in his blog, reprinted here with his kind permission. Emoji. They are universally beloved. In fact, I’m wondering why I’m even bothering to write this blog post with the boring old English alphabet. But, as with any other …


Education the DMLA Way

DMLA (Digital Media Licensing Association) has traditionally been seen as a trade organization for picture agencies and distributors. Important to note that for a few years now, their programming and offerings are becoming more and more inclusive of the entire visual communications community. Their annual conference in the fall (October 22–24) has expanded programming that …


Notice of Survey on Qualities and Priorities of New Register of Copyrights

From Nancy Wolff, DMLA Counsel The new Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden, has started the process of searching for a new Register of Copyrights after removing Maria Pallante as Register on October 21, 2016. DMLA, as well as the other visual artist associations, had worked with the former Register Pallante for six years on …


Can anyone use public domain images?

By Nancy Wolff, DMLA Counsel. Many many thanks to the DMLA, Nancy Wolff and DMLA Executive Director Cathy Aron for permission to repost this article from the DMLA blog. Answer: YES, there are no restrictions on any use of public domain images, including making them available to users for a fee. Since Carol Highsmith filed …


The Apotheosis of Appropriation – Richard Prince

Guest post by Simon Herbert Appropriation has always been a part of the history of art (Renaissance painters regularly ‘lifted’ iconography from one another), but it truly moved into the mainstream as its own accepted sub-category in the twentieth century. When Surrealist René Magritte deconstructed subject matter in his painting “The Treachery of Images” that …


Dangerous Little Knowledge

reposted from The Illusion of More with the kind permission of David Newhoff Not surprisingly, friends contact me from time to time with copyright-related questions. I’m careful not to give definitive answers to most of these, but I can usually point them in the right direction toward a solution.  Very recently, a dear friend (let’s …


VC Boston Copyright Panel After Class

We know the conversation about copyright never ends. For those of us who didn’t get to Boston last month for Visual Connection’s Expo—and for those of you who were able to attend—we continue the dialog. Guest post by Jain Lemos. Here is a follow-up interview with two of the guest panelists for the morning educational …


Revisiting Vivian Maier

Shortly after the insightful review of the acclaimed documentary, “Finding Vivian Maier”, written for us by Michael Masterson and found here, news surfaced with an interesting development around her work. Michael filed this update for us: Subsequent to the original post, there has been a new legal twist regarding Maier’s work and estate. The New …