VARA

Another complicated VARA case involved sculptor Audrey Flack.

When Creator and Owner Clash 2010

Ms. Flack brought a VARA lawsuit against the group.

When Creator and Owner Clash 2010

When the museum ran out of money, Mr. Buchel refused to have anything more to do with his installation, filing a lawsuit under VARA in 2007 to prevent MassMoCA from either exhibiting or demolishing the installation.

When Creator and Owner Clash 2010

Rauschenberg alleges that this violated his rights under VARA to protect the attribution of his work.

April 2008 2008

But perhaps the largest precedent set in the 20 years since the law was enacted has been that a majority of contracts commissioning new artworks now contain clauses in which the artists waive their VARA rights.

When Creator and Owner Clash 2010

Artists 'moral rights have been enshrined in law for 20 years through the Visual Artists Rights Act, or VARA, which was enacted as an amendment to the U.S. Copyright Code in 1990.

When Creator and Owner Clash 2010

Ms. Oliver, the San Francisco lawyer, claims that a major effect of VARA has been to inform prospective buyers of art of "recognized stature" that they cannot do whatever they want with the pieces they purchase, because they, too, may find themselves with legal costs.

When Creator and Owner Clash 2010

VARA prevents the owners of artworks of "recognized stature" from destroying or altering them without the artist's approval.

When Creator and Owner Clash 2010

VARA gives visual artists the right of attribution, i.e., the right to have their work properly attributed to them, and the right of integrity, i.e., the right to not have their work altered or destroyed without their permission.

Leimer on How we Lost our Moral Rights and the Door Closed on Non-Economic Values in Copyright Mary L. Dudziak 2009

While others have studied the history of Anglo-American copyright from the advent of the printing press, they make few references to the type of rights granted by VARA.

Leimer on How we Lost our Moral Rights and the Door Closed on Non-Economic Values in Copyright Mary L. Dudziak 2009