The Artist as Entrepreneur
VARA-Visual Artists Rights Act

Lesson Description

In this lesson, students will investigate moral rights (droit morale), the recognition that an artist’s work is an extension of himself, and alterations to the work can be a violation of the artist’s rights. Students will read case studies of artists’ lawsuits under the Visual Artists Rights Act and then will discuss the merits of fictitious cases where artists might consider a lawsuit.

Concepts

property rights
moral rights

Related Subject Areas

Law

Objectives

Students will:
  • describe the Visual Artists Rights Act
  • discuss the merits of potential lawsuits according to the Visual Artists Rights Act

Materials

Visual 1, Property Rights
Visual 2, Is VARA Constitutional?
Handout 1, Visual Artists Rights Act, one copy per student
Handout 2, Murals at Risk, one copy per student
Handout 3, Does She Have a Case?, cut apart to provide one card per group
A work of art that has been prominently displayed in the classroom or school building

Procedure

1. Draw students’ attention to a visual work that has been displayed in your room or the school for an extended period. Suggest a change that you wish to make to the work, such as changing the colors or cutting it into smaller sections and selling it. Ask students to discuss the ethics of this decision. Suggest to them that either of these acts would be unethical but might also be considered illegal under certain circumstances.

2. Display Visual 1, Property Rights. Introduce the lesson by stating that having ownership of a building or area of land on which a work of art is displayed does not necessarily give the building or land owner exclusive rights to the disposition of the art. Property rights can be defined as the right to use, control, and obtain benefits from a good or service. This could be construed to mean that building owners have the right to use and control art that has been placed in or on the building. However, artists have a type of property right to the art they have created.

3. Provide each student with Handout 1, The Visual Artists Rights Act. Explain that this act prohibits alteration or destruction of artwork under certain conditions. Allow students time to read the information. Ask the following questions:
  • What are the rights that define “Moral rights?”
  • Must the artist who created the work hold the copyright in order to claim a VARA violation?
  • For how long are an artist’s rights granted under VARA?

4. Display Visual 2, Is VARA Constitutional? Summarize the discussion by stating that Congress, in enacting the Visual Artists Rights Act, sought to provide property rights to artists so as to maintain an artist’s credibility and integrity.

5. Explain that students will read about three cases where building owners were challenged by artists Distribute Handout 2, Murals at Risk. After students have read the cases, prompt discussion by asking the following questions.
  • In each case, what happened to the artwork involved? (It was destroyed or partially destroyed.)

  • Marta Ayala and Patricia Rose had a Site Agreement with the building owners, the other artists did not. Did this influence the outcomes for the other two cases? (No, in all three cases, the owners were in some way compensated for the loss of their work.)

  • What section of VARA covered these cases? (The artist of a work of visual art shall have the right: “to prevent any destruction of a work of recognized stature, and any intentional or grossly negligent destruction of that work is a violation of that right.”)

6. Place students in five groups and give each group a situation card from Handout 3. Instruct students to conjecture the outcome of a lawsuit brought by the artist. Instruct them to justify their responses by citing the portion of the law that favors the artist or absolves the city workers.

Closure

Remind the students that property rights can be defined as the right to use, control, and obtain benefits from a good or service. However, when art is involved, artists have a type of property right to the art they have created. The Visual Artists Rights Act affords artist this right.