FAQS

Art lawyers provide advice on a wide range of legal issues relating to the creation and commercialisation of art works and the art marketplace. These range from drafting and negotiating contracts, protecting and defending intellectual property and copyright through to dispute resolution advice.

Unlike some other types of lawyers, art lawyers are unique as their legal expertise covers a broad spectrum of different specialisations and they also require a solid understanding and interest in the art world and all of its intricacies.

We would always recommend being proactive in seeking legal advice. Whether you are an artist, gallery, art tech start up or museum, you should reach out to a lawyer when you are entering into a commercial agreement of any kind (such as the commission of a new artwork, the consignment of an artwork to a gallery or the setting up of an online platform for displaying and selling art). A specialist art lawyer can map the various relationships involved, and guide you on what contracts should be prepared to set out the terms of the arrangement (avoiding differing expectations and miscommunications down the track).

There is also a lot of confusion about who owns what creative content, and who has the right to use it. An art lawyer can help you understand the ins and outs of copyright law and advise you on how to protect your intellectual property.

An art lawyer also plays an important role in estate planning for artists. If you’re an artist, having your will drafted by an art lawyer who understands the importance of preserving your work and legacy is essential.

Read more in our blog When you should hire an art lawyer.

There are a number of different types of contracts which may be appropriate for you to have in place.

If you are considering signing with a gallery or just having one exhibition, it’s important that you set clear parameters around your relationship with the gallery. A Gallery Representation Agreement is a vital mechanism to establish your rights and obligations with a gallery and helps ensure that everyone is on the same page.

Are you thinking of consigning your artworks to a gallery? A Consignment Agreement is a contract between an artist and a gallery where the artist provides the gallery with artworks that the gallery can sell on the artist’s behalf. Traditionally, the gallery agrees to sell the artwork in exchange for receiving a commission on the sold price. Artists often make these agreements verbally so they don’t miss out on an opportunity to work with a gallery. We understand that the idea of having a Consignment Agreement can feel like overkill, however, like a Representation Agreement, a written Consignment Agreement can help you establish and rely on the payment structure, marketing and insurance obligations.

A Commission Agreement may also be useful to you. This contract sets out the terms for a commissioned artwork and often involves multiple parties such as fabricators, sound producers and photographers. For Commission Agreements, having a contract which clearly establishes the responsibilities of each party is vital.

What do you sell when you sell an artwork? Do you retain the copyright, can you reproduce the work? How and when will you get paid? An Artwork Sale Agreement governs the relationship between an artist and a purchaser. It helps answer these questions and clears up any uncertainties if the relationship deteriorates.

Guest Work Agency is Australia’s first dedicated art law and advisory practice, working with artists, collectors, galleries, arts organisations, art fairs and art tech start-ups. Although we are based in Melbourne, the firm works with clients around Australia and internationally.

As well as providing innovative legal solutions, Guest Work Agency is a curatorial practice, initiating its own exhibitions, talks and texts at the intersection of art, tech and law.

In 2019 Guest Work Agency founded an offshoot business, the Guest Club, a subscription-based art advisory service and membership network for art lovers and collectors.

Guest Work Agency is run by director and founder, Alana Kushnir. Alana is an art lawyer and curator with a strong interest in how the law and technology intersect with the creative industries, particularly art. She is a regular contributor and speaker in the art field in Australia and overseas.

Alana is also the Principal Investigator of the Serpentine Galleries’ R&D Platform Legal Lab, which explores how the law can better support collaborations across art, science and technology, and a sessional lecturer at The University of Melbourne, teaching subjects on curating, contemporary art and art law.

Alana is supported by a multi-disciplinary team with backgrounds in law and art in Australia and abroad. Team members include Paralegal Associate Mia Shaumann, London based Curatorial Associate, Anaïs Lellouche, and Marketing Consultant Aleks Czerwinski. To find out more about the team’s experience, visit our Guest Workers page.

Guest Work Agency’s legal services include helping clients protect their creative output, diversify their income streams, negotiate multi-party public commission projects, and launch art tech platforms and marketplaces.

Our specific areas of legal expertise include:

• Negotiating and drafting of contracts for private and public art commissions, artwork sales and licensing, gallery representation, artist publications, exhibitions and photography of artworks.

• Drafting of website terms and conditions, privacy policies and regulation-required statements.

• Providing legal advice on art and creative projects, particularly those with an advanced technology focus (AI, VR, XR, Blockchain & NFTs) in areas including intellectual property, privacy and consumer law.

• Drafting wills for artists and providing estate planning advice.

• Drafting letters of demand and providing dispute resolution advice, particularly in the areas of breach of contract, copyright, misleading and deceptive conduct and defamation.

• Setting up non-profit organisations, registering for charitable and Deductible Gift Recipient status.

• Advising on art crime and artwork restitution.

We embrace the role of the non-traditional advisor - part studio manager, estate planner, sport-style agent, producer, dealer and relationship facilitator.

Our specific areas of management consulting expertise for the art industry include:

• Identifying and negotiating commercial opportunities for artists, such as brand collaborations and major artwork commissions

• Project management of public artworks

• Artwork inventory management

• Artwork certification and blockchain registration advice

• Estate planning for artworks and digital assets

You can find a selection of our past and ongoing projects on our Projects page.

We are proud to work with a diverse group of artists at all stages of their career across a broad range of mediums, from painting and sculpture, to photography and video, to digital art and NFTs.

Although we are based in Australia, we work with artists both nationally and worldwide. Visit our Clients page for more information on the artists we work with.

Where possible, we prefer to offer a fixed fee for our services. Alternatively, if we can’t establish the length of time providing our services will take, we offer our services at hourly rates. We offer a 10% discount for artists.

We accept payment in fiat and cryptocurrency.

NFTs can give rise to fundamental legal questions around intellectual property ownership and rights such as “When you buy an artwork, what do you own? And what rights do you have in relation to that work?”

Other legal issues include having transparent terms of service in place for NFT marketplaces available to users before they sign up. These terms are important as they help users to understand the risks involved in interacting with a certain platform, as well as minting, buying and selling NFTs. Inconsistent terms of use may give rise to consumer law issues such as misleading and deceptive conduct.

Read more about legal issues and NFT in a Lawyers Weekly interview with Alana Kushnir: NFT market sees ‘innovative’ dealmaking, but also a ‘lack of standardisation and transparency’.

When it comes to public art, the traditional commissioning relationship between commissioner and artist rarely occurs today. Not only will the commissioner and artist be involved, but so too will other individuals and stakeholders who bring the artwork to life.

Parties to the contract could be the artist’s gallery, the architect of the site, the developer, the project manager, the artwork fabricator or the guarantor, for example. There may need to be more than one contract in place to address all of the parties involved.

Public art commission arrangements are also unique from a contractual perspective because they can encompass all (or some) of the varying life phases of an artwork.

You should consider not only who is involved, but what each party is responsible for and how a contract can be used to hold each party accountable for their obligations under the commissioning arrangement.

Read our blog about public art commission contracts for more information.