Not too long ago an artist in Massachusetts won a significant lawsuit
regarding a sculpture of his that had been bought by a corporation
which then wanted to dismantle? or alter? his sculpture. Do any of
you fine Orchidians remember the name of the artist or anything about
the case that would allow me to research the decision? And secondly
I have forgotten the name of the fine gentleman who regularly
responds to copyright questions so knowledgably on Orchid, but if you
know who you are could you please email me off list? Thanks as
always.
Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140 @Daniel_R_Spirer
"BOSTON. A federal court has ruled that a corporate developer may
not remove a group of sculptures which the artist says were
specifically designed for a Boston seaport park, under a
Massachusetts law broadly protecting artists’ rights. But the court
held that the sculptures were not protected under federal law, which
does not protect the location or
display of ‘site-specific’ sculptures.
The developer, Pembroke Real Estate, Inc., has not yet announced
whether it will appeal. The preliminary injunction was issued on 24
October by the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
The
sculptures by David Phillips are located in the nautically-themed
Eastport Park, which Pembroke, the real estate arm of Fidelity
Investments, completed in 2000. "
(The article continues with more details and background)’
Daniel, I don’t know the name of the artist but a similar situation
happened a number of years ago when the sculptor, Richard Sera had
his site specific sculpture, “Tilted Arc” removed from the plaza of
a Federal building in lower Manhattan. He sued and lost. Joel