California Art Lawyer Sebastian Gibson
California Art Lawyer Sebastian Gibson, The Right Choice for Artists, Art Galleries and Art Collectors in California, throughout the U.S. and Internationally
There has never been a greater need for an art attorney such as California Art Lawyer Sebastian Gibson with all issues artists face in selling their art, for art galleries and for art collectors seeking to protect their art investments.
Today, artists, art galleries, art collectors and collectors of rare coins, rare books, photography, entertainment memorabilia, antiquities, gold and treasure, antique furniture and even rare vintage model cars can turn to California art lawyer Sebastian Gibson for representation and advice.
While sales of the most expensive art works garner the majority of headlines in the art world, many new artists today are making significant headway in becoming recognized as great artists as well. And while art galleries continue to do well in choosing pieces likely to interest their clientele, many art collectors today are utilizing auction houses not only for purchases of art but to educate themselves as to what is available on a larger scale and what art in its many genres and categories sell for today.
For the growing number of art collectors in the world, today there exists a wide and varied opportunity for people with an interest in art to find great art works at affordable prices. From art festivals and art galleries in the community where they live, from online websites and from both affordable and high end auctions at auction houses, art collecting has become an exciting experience for all involved.
Today, there are a growing number of people looking for ways to invest their money. With the purchase of art at prices they can afford, they can beautify their homes, and purchase investments at the same time which will not only grow in value when purchased at fair prices, but which will give them a great deal more pleasure than a crypto currency they can’t really see or put on a wall and admire any time of the day.
Once a person purchases their first work of art, they often begin to purchase more soon after. The experience of finding a work of art which “speaks to them” only makes them want to look for other art pieces that make them feel the same passion their first piece does.
For these new art collectors who have less experience in buying art, however, it’s just as important as it is for experienced art collectors spending millions on a painting or other work of art to be fully informed of the risks as well as the protection which can be afforded to them by retaining the right art attorney.
The Art Attorney You Need in Palm Springs, Palm Desert and Newport Beach, California, in London Throughout the World, California Art Lawyer Sebastian Gibson
California Art Attorney Sebastian Gibson has extensive experience representing clients in a wide variety of legal matters in the art, business and entertainment world. From the representation of artists and art galleries to art and coin collectors, celebrities, athletes, musicians, film and television producers and models, California Art Attorney Sebastian Gibson is the lawyer you want on your side whether you’re involved in the creation of art, the sale of art or the collecting of art and other collectibles.
A California Art Lawyer such as Attorney Sebastian Gibson provides counsel and advice to many involved in various facets the art world. A particular client might need Sebastian’s negotiating skills, while another may need a contract reviewed.
Clients can include, of course, artists, art galleries and art collectors, and many times require review of the many types of transactions which are uniquely involved in the art world. Art consignments, art insurance coverage, foundations, museums, charities are all potential clients.
For art collectors, there are issues involving the purchase and sale of art works and other collectibles. Rare coins and modern coins as well can not only be an investment but hold intrinsic worth as well. They can also and the most valuable often are, coin art as well, due to their beauty or their toning.
Intellectual property issues are often involved in the representation of our clients in the art world. Photographs, which can be extremely valuable, can carry with them a vast number of intellectual issues, ranging from ownership to merchandising, to copyright infringement, or may even involve privacy or publicity rights issues.
There can be issues requiring the assistance of an art attorney in the negotiation and drafting of agreements for the commission of art by artists for public entities, as well as for private individuals.
Displays of art loans also carry a vast array of issues which a lawyer specializing in art law knows to be concerned with.
However, it’s the purchase and sale of art that perhaps produces the most work for a California art lawyer such as Sebastian Gibson. Whether the transaction involves fine art, collectibles, memorabilia, antiquities, treasure, antique furniture or and entire collection of coins or one coin in particular, there can be issues of authenticity, tax issues, price negotiations, negotiations with an auction house, insurance issues, safety, protection and on occasion issues involving their loss.
The issues for an art collector don’t end with the purchase of an art work. Art valuation comes into play afterwards in a wide variety of situations including insurance claims, as collateral for a loan, and in donations of art for taxes, insurance and in retaining non-profit status of a foundation.
Today artists are often calling to learn how they can sell their art as an NFT and make millions as they’ve seen other artists doing.
One thing which novice art collectors don’t realize is that even a good-faith purchaser does not have a valid title when they purchase stolen property. There is always a possibility, more so with antiquities, that an artwork they are in the process of purchasing or one which they’ve already purchased is stolen property. And this is in addition to the risk that the artwork is fake. The more incomplete or suspicious the history is of the artwork, the more risk there is to both issues.
Some of the risk of these issues can be mitigated by the work of an art attorney or of other services, but no art lawyer can guarantee that an artwork is free of these risks. However by drafting legal documents carefully, some of the risk can either be mitigated or at the least, remedies can be built in such documents to provide an avenue for compensation.
The problem with simply having the right to be indemnified or having a party to sue in the event of fraud, misrepresentation or the like, is that another risk takes the place of earlier ones. Now the risk can be whether the party or parties responsible can be found to serve with a lawsuit, whether the defendants most at fault have the money to pay damages, and the risk that the cost of litigation in the event an artwork is fake or stolen will be worth the effort, the cost and then be fruitful.
In the event the art collector is selling his or her art, the risk of damage to the artwork must be a primary concern. Thus the moment the risk of damage passes from the seller to the buyer becomes a key issue in the drafting of when title transfers.
The warranty period in which the new buyer has to determine if the artwork is fake or stolen is also important. A buyer wants the warranty period to be as long as possible. The seller, as short as possible.
If an artwork is purchased from a gallery or an auction house, a buyer must often simply rely upon an express representation provided in an invoice rather than a more formal agreement. This behooves asking for more in the way of a representation of authenticity which may be hard to come by.
On occasion, an art buyer will ask an art lawyer to set up a private foundation to hold title to artworks purchased and then donated to the foundation or whether it would be better to donate to the foundation, receive a tax deduction, and then have the foundation purchase the artworks.
Some art collectors feel their art collection should be enjoyed by others and choose to loan their art to museums or galleries for exhibition and public viewing. In such situations, the allocation of responsibility for the safe keeping and transport of the art is something an art lawyer such as California Art Lawyer Sebastian Gibson can work to protect the interests of his clients, whether they are the art collector, or the museum or gallery.
Other issues which become paramount in an art loan situation are the responsibility for the costs involved to and from the art’s location, costs of the exhibition of the artwork, and the valuation of the art. In the event of damage, the art attorney will need to retain an art appraiser to determine the extent and effect on the value of the art and then present a claim to and deal with the insurers of the art.
With coins, antiques, antiquities, memorabilia, books or art sold at auction, California Art Lawyer Sebastian Gibson can also be utilized to negotiate the commission of an auction house.
Tax issues also form a large part of what an art lawyer does to assist an art collector. With the assistance of qualified CPA’s familiar with tax strategies for art collectors, an art lawyer can present an art collector with various tax strategies to minimize tax consequences in their art transactions.
The Practice of Art Law by California Art Lawyer Sebastian Gibson
With over 40 years of experience both in California and internationally, law degrees in both California and in Great Britain, and years of experience in London as well as decades of experience in California, from San Diego and up the coast to San Francisco, in Newport Beach and in Palm Springs and Palm Desert, clients today seek out the assistance of California Art Lawyer for all of their legal issues involving art, coins, collectibles, memorabilia, books, antiquities, treasure and antiques.
Collectors as well as artists, art galleries, athletes and entertainment celebrities are just some of California Art Lawyer Sebastian Gibson’s clients, and it is not uncommon for Sebastian Gibson to spend much of his time each day with auction houses online and art clients, or in the evaluation and purchase of art, coins and other collectibles for clients.
As an experienced California and international entertainment lawyer, California art lawyer Sebastian Gibson also represents models and photographers from around the world, as well as entertainment clients in publishing, film and television production, songwriting, and at live performances at events and music festivals.
The rights of artists is of chief concern to California Art Lawyer Sebastian Gibson, whether the artist is a painter, a photographer, or the creator of any other type of art. Using the California Art Preservation Act or other state, federal, including the Visual Artists Rights Act, or foreign moral rights laws to the advantage of his clients, California Art Lawyer Sebastian Gibson strives to protect the rights of his art clients whenever, wherever and however possible.
The additional advantage clients have in retaining California Art Attorney Sebastian Gibson is his variety of experience, including international experience in Great Britain and elsewhere in the world, and his experience in the entertainment field which even garners him requests from national cable news outlets for interviews, assistance and advice.
An experienced numismatic lawyer as well, Sebastian Gibson also represents and advises rare coin collectors and assists in their purchase and sale of rare coins which provides further insight into the consignment and sale by auction of fine art, rare books, entertainment memorabilia, antiquities, treasure, gold nuggets, decorative art, antique furniture and other collectibles.
With decades of experience in dealing with insurance companies, presenting, negotiating and litigating claims, California Art Lawyer Sebastian Gibson is also the right choice in art matters not only in California but throughout the world.
With experience involving seven figure settlements in the prosecution of copyright and trademark infringement issues as well as in other litigation, California art lawyer Sebastian Gibson has achieved honors such as being named a Top Lawyer by the Prestigious Palm Springs Life Magazine for the past 12 years in a row.
Sebastian Gibson has been called “Brilliant” and “A Legend” and is rated “Superb” by Avvo which rates lawyers throughout the country and which has honored him with their highest category.
Common Artist Issues faced by Artists
Artist agreements with art sellers who promote and market the art of an artist are often fraught with problems. Often artists enter into agreements with individuals they have failed to investigate or vet, and whom they barely know.
The terms of the arrangement may have barely been determined or set to writing, and important terms such as how the selling prices will be determined, how much the artist will receive, and how long the arrangement will last can in some cases be vague at best.
An artist entering into an arrangement with an art seller or even an art gallery needs legal representation from which they can learn, in many cases, how to negotiate their next arrangement with an art seller on their own.
However, an artist often simply wishes to leave legal matters to an art attorney or feels they simply lack the negotiation skills to best protect their interests. Many artists also feel that by becoming involved in money matters, it spoils their creativity.
For those artists who do want to understand what terms are important to know, they should negotiate what percentage of the sales they should be receiving, when they can expect payment, who sets the prices, how long the arrangement will last, and how the art will be presented, for instance only in a gallery or online as well.
New artists need to learn how to copyright their art or have an experienced copyright attorney such as California Art Lawyer Sebastian Gibson copyright it for them. They need to know how to respond to reproduction rights or ask Sebastian Gibson for advice.
Artists need to understand issues involving damage, theft and loss provisions in their agreements and know whose responsibility it is to insure their art.
Artists should also seek the advise of California Art Lawyer Sebastian Gibson how to draft an termination clause so they can escape from a bad arrangement when expectations aren’t met or an event such as a bankruptcy or pandemic or other matter affecting sales of the art occurs.
Without an art lawyer advising them as they grow in stature, artists can find themselves having given too many pieces of the pie from their art sales to agents leaving them with far too little left for themselves.
Finally, artists need to understand they will often be expected to, and that it will be helpful to attend exhibitions, give interviews, and to win over art critics.
What Makes Good Art
There are many opinions when it comes to determining what makes art good or bad. In my personal opinion, good art should speak to you. No artwork is going to speak to everyone in the same positive way, but good art should strike a chord in certain people and when it does, the art will be something an art collector keeps thinking about until he or she realizes they can not live without it.
Another aspect of good art, in my opinion, is that it should create passion in the eye of the beholder. It may do so because of the story it tells, it’s artistry, it’s beauty or because it hits at the feelings and beliefs of the person viewing the artwork. Art can tell a story. If it’s an original story, so much the better. Even a comical story can make art good.
Good art makes people smile and want to stare longer and longer or return to stare again at the artwork. It becomes something that the art collector simply must have, and finances permitting, at any price.
At some point as such an art collector stares at the art, perhaps even in amazement, he or she somehow actually forgets it’s even art. A connection is made such that what sits or hangs on the wall in front of them has magically become part of their very soul, and they become entranced such that they wonder how, or what, or why this or that in the artwork is touching their soul, only to know that it has and they cannot leave without having it, for to do so would be to now leave a part of oneself behind.
How to Retain California Art Lawyer Sebastian Gibson
With offices in the Palm Springs area in Palm Desert and in Newport Beach, California Art Lawyer Sebastian Gibson serves clients throughout the U.S. and the world. In 2022, Sebastian Gibson was named a Top Lawyer by the prestigious Palm Springs Life Magazine for the 12th year in a row.
You can learn more about California Art Lawyer Sebastian Gibson at this website. For representation, it’s best to first email him at SgibsonEsq@aol.com .
