Posted: December 28th, 2021

Write a paper – Legal Advice for Artists

Legal Advice for Artists
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Word Count: 1941
It is essential to ensure that one’s business is legally sound for it to succeed. One can get legal advice from a solicitor or a registered law firm. Getting advice in the initial stages of a dispute allows one to sort out legal issues which can become later and much more expensive to settle then. If one is fully aware of the laws and regulations set within their venture, they build a strong foundation for success. Legal advice can help one deal with disputes, protect one’s intellectual and copyright information, according to (Smarta, 2010 – Essay Writing Service: Write My Essay by Top-Notch Writer) understanding legal requirements for one’s insurance needs, legalities in a specific contract for a particular piece of work and much more. Solicitors can act and advise one when involved in a legal dispute when one has to go to court or give advice on financial matters. In this paper, tax, contract negotiation and agreement in the case of Mel are going to be critically discussed in a clear and cogent manner.
Overview of Mel’s case
Mel has been accused by four of the previous purchasers of her works for contract breach. Mel had seven identical drawings for the work “Shrub.” She decided to sell them at a discount, each one at $4500 and sent her clients a message informing them of her intent. According to her mail, sent on 26th February, Mel gave her clients two weeks to express their opinion on the offer, after which she will assume their acceptance of the offer and send installation specialists to their homes. Payment was due on installation. Sam, one of her clients, accept the offer and confirms his interest on 9th March. Later that day, Renu calls the office to confirm his interest in the offer. On the same day, Gwen reads the letter that was sent on 26th February and decides to wait for installation specialists to come to his house. Alex even pays $ 4500 in advance for the offer on seeing the mail. It then happened that her art has been selected for a prestigious award and that she will earn more from her other replicas. She decides to withdraw the offer she had suggested to her clients, so she writes a cancellation mail two days before the set installation date, that is 12th – 14th March. Later on, when Sam, Gwen, Renu and Alex read the mail stating the withdrawal of the offer, they argue that Mel had a contractual agreement with them for the installation of “Shrub” and they intend to keep her to the obligation.
Definition of Contract Agreement and Breach
The contract agreement is defined as a specific agreement with terms between two or more people in which there is a promise to do something in return for a valuable (Hill & Hill, 2005). A contract must have the following elements. First, an offer, second, an acceptance of the offer which may lead to a meeting. Third, a promise to deliver. Fourth, a valuable consideration. Fifth, time or event where the commitments will be made. Sixth, terms and conditions and finally, the performance, according to (Hill & Hill, 2005). Contract breach is a violation of a contract by failure to perform or interfering with the performance of the obligations of the contract.
Mel’s email is considered a contract since it has most of the above factual elements, though it has a variation on circumstances and complexities. However, it can be considered a contract breach for some of her clients. Following the case of Mel and her clients, she is obliged to a contract by all three of her clients except one; Gwen.
Gwen received the letter that as sent on 26th February on 9th March. He did not bother to at least inform Mel of his acceptance to the offer like the rest did. Instead, he decided to wait for the installation specialists to come and install the “Shrubs.” Mel sent the withdrawal letter on 12th March and when Gwen came to learn of the development, and he is determined to tie Mel to their contract. From the first phrase of the definition of a contract, it is “the specific agreement of terms between two persons…” as far as Gwen is concerned, there was no contract between them as there was no agreement between the two parties. If at all Gwen had expressed his interest, then that would have been considered a contract. Gwen could argue that according to Mel’s letter, she would assume that the client is interested if they do not get back to her by 12th March to express their dissent, and therefore he is on the right side. Gwen’s argument has facts and is legit according to the mail. However, bearing in mind, the mail was not intended to be an official contract and the complexity of Mel’s case, Gwen’s claims are illegitimate. Even if Gwen argued on the basis of their past customer-seller relationship, it still would not be enough.
A similar case to Mel and Gwen is a bitter dispute involving four lawsuits. Richard McKenzie who alleges that New York’s form gallery and its owners orally agreed to sell him at a discount of 20% for the works that would be sold with a plus 5% commission at market price (Gilbert, 2015 – Research Paper Writing Help Service). Instead, Richard argues that he was sold the piece at $11.8 million, which according to him was at a higher, breaching the contract. Richard also claimed that he had nurtured a fiduciary relationship with the owners which fostered a fake sense of trust, that a friend would not take advantage of him (Gilbert, 2015 – Research Paper Writing Help Service). Manhattan federal judge Laura Taylor ruled against Richard on both claims. Laura said the claim was too vague to be called a contract. She added that even a longstanding relationship of 50 years is not enough to establish a fiduciary relationship (Gilbert, 2015 – Research Paper Writing Help Service).
Sam confirmed his interest in purchasing “the shrub” on 9th March at noon. Renu calls MAC in the evening to confirm her wish of purchasing a “shrub,” but no one answers her call. Instead, she leaves a message stating her intention of calling. Alex goes a step further and even pays $4500 for seeing the message. All these three are entitled to be sold the replicas at $ 4500 because they confirmed their interest before Mel sent another mail to cancel the offer. However Mel may argue that she Sam is not entitled to the offer because she did not see his message until Monday 11 am when she sent the cancellation mail. Time is, however, a petty issue in this case because it can be traced from Sam’s mail the time it was sent.
If Mel decides to go to court to settle this disagreement, she will be protected by the 5th amendment cause under the due process clause which states that everybody arraigned in court shall receive a fundamentally fair, orderly and just judicial hearing before they can be deprived of liberty, life or property by the ruling (Kim, 2017). The procedural due process ensures fairness in hearing while substantive due process protect procedural rights fundamentally as to be implicit in the concept of ordered liberty. Also, the 5th amendment under the double jeopardy clause will protect her as it states that an individual from successive prosecutions of the same alleged act to protect them from psychological, emotional financial and physical troubles (Kim, 2017). So the multiple accusations from Sam, Gwen, Alex, and Renu will be treated as one accusation. The double jeopardy clause is achieved by the providence of three rights: first, a guarantee that the defendant will not face a second prosecution after an acquittal, second, that they will not face a second prosecution after a conviction and third, that they will not face multiple punishments of the same offense.
The only person that Mel cannot defend herself against is Alex, the only person who made the payment immediately after receiving her mail for the offer. However, if she refutes the claim with nothing to defend herself with, according to the 3rd clause of the 5th amendment, she is protected from answering questions in testimony if they think that they may incriminate themselves (Kim, 2017). That is why when a suspect is taken into custody; it is a law for the officer to inform them of all their rights. These rights include the right to remain silent, the right to have an attorney during questioning and the right to have a government-attorney if the suspect cannot afford one, according to (Kim, 2017).
Although Mel could be exempted from selling her work to Gwen, she should realize that her mail was considered a contract. And is highly recommended that she understands what she is about to write and its implications before putting pen to paper. Alternatively, she could use the help of a lawyer to help understand the terms and conditions before considering to sell any of her works in such a situation next time. Lawyers try to ensure that anything is not too one-sided by reviewing the first draft and advising on necessary changes that need to be done. When an artist tries to bring their work into the wider world, it can be very stressing it can make expensive for some artists to find lawyers. However, there are also non-profit making organizations like the Volunteer Lawyers for Arts. They provide services to businesses and individuals for free and can help in the negotiations too.
I’d advise Mel to get this done in writing where signatures of both parties are involved. Some states, for instance, New York have laws that state contracts involving the sales of goods or services that involve $500 or more with no contemporaneous writing and signature sufficient to indicate a contract for sale between the two parties has been made are not enforceable according to (Kokhba, 2013). Mel’s case involved more than $4500. It is not all cases involving her sales that Mel will have to involve an attorney as it will be too expensive. She should take insurance covers. Insurance is a critical piece of one’s legal foundation. Insurance is a way of managing risks because everything she does will involve risks. Insurance against legal claims, like this one, for instance, will give her peace of mind when she comes into business with the public. Whichever insurance policy that Mel will choose, she should read it thoroughly to avoid surprises when she needs to use it. She should reevaluate her insurance needs annually just in case she changes her business or acquires new equipment. This is done to ensure that the coverage is still relevant and sufficient.
Finally, it would be important for Mel to cooperate with her insurance company. She should be ready to provide all sorts of documentations – provenance, records of policy adjustments, conversation records with her contractor (is she has one) and other details that might be considered essential in keeping her art safe, according to (Fenstermaker, 2017). These companies are there for making a profit. It means that they are not pleased when they are the ones to pay for something and will be looking for someone else to pay for the damage. If a third party usa essay writers causes damage and the insurance company determines one is not at fault, they may be planning a case against the contractor. Even sometimes, the insurance company might want to prove negligence on her side thus be looking for a flaw on their client’s side. So it is crucially important that Mel cooperates with her insurance provider because chances of them arguing with her in such a scenario are extremely low. This according to (Fenstermaker, 2017) is called subrogation.

References
Gilbert, L. (2015 – Research Paper Writing Help Service, December 23). Five Legal Cases Changing the Art Market as We Know It. Retrieved from https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-five-legal-cases-changing-the-art-market-as-we-know-it
Hill, G. N., & Hill, K. T. (2005). Contractual agreement. Retrieved from https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Contractual+agreement
Fenstermaker, W. (2017, April 11). The Art of Art Insurance: A Practical Guide for Artists, Galleries, and Collectors. Retrieved from https://www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/living_with_art/the-art-of-art-insurance-a-practical-guide-for-artists-galleries-and-collectors-54710
Kokhba, D. S. (2013, December 2). Five Art Market Lessons from Recent Case Law. Retrieved from https://itsartlaw.com/2013/05/10/five-art-market-lessons-from-recent-case-law/
Kim, J. (2017, June 8). Fifth Amendment. Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fifth_amendment
Smarta. (2010 – Essay Writing Service: Write My Essay by Top-Notch Writer). Why your business will need legal advice. Retrieved from http://www.smarta.com/advice/legal/business-law/why-your-business-will-need-legal-advice/

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