Art Agreements including Sales and Licences of Artwork and Consignment Agreements

The artworld and its transactions are founded on a bundle of artistic copyright protections dealt with and exploited via a web of contracts between an artist, their gallery, dealers, museums, transporters, and insurers.  All too often in the artworld, artist/gallery agreements and transactions are not fully documented, but should be.

An artistic installation may, for example, consist of multiple copyrights (such as artistic copyright, design right and might constitute a work of artistic craftsmanship).  As a result, in a single record there may be many copyright owners and many separate rights to licence.    

Our lawyers have advised some of the most famous artists and galleries and are well placed to assist with drafting and negotiating representation agreements, licensing arrangements, consignments and sale or return agreements, exhibition agreements and limited edition print deals.  We also deal with outright sales and issues concerning moral rights issues and artists’ resale rights.

For information on art disputes, please see our specialist art disputes team.