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Cossu Speaks to Artsy About Street Art and VARA Protections

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Partner Paul Cossu was interviewed by Christy Kuesel from Artsy for a story titled, "The Fraught Business of Removing and Selling Street Art Murals" that explores the myriad issues with street art, including the legal protections that are afforded to artists under the Visual Artists Rights Act, or VARA.

In her article, Kuesel notes that "(s)treet art fans—and the artists themselves—may protest the sale of murals, but from a legal perspective, it’s entirely up to the owner of the building on which the work was created." 

Cossu explains,“(g)enerally, when you purchase a building, you own the fixtures within the building, whether they’re ceiling fans or [a] fine art mural painting on a wall....Of course, what an owner can do with a fine art mural after acquiring the building will depend, in part, on whether the mural is protected by the Visual Artists Rights Act.”

The full article is available here.

About Pryor Cashman’s Art Law Group

The Art Law Group at Pryor Cashman provides boutique firm specialization within a full-service law firm platform. We represent stakeholders throughout the art market at both the individual and institutional levels, including collectors, family offices, galleries and dealers, advisors and appraisers, auction houses, museums, foundations and artists. We handle hundreds of millions of dollars in art deals each year, and have been responsible for major, precedent-setting legal victories in courts and forums around the world.