Arts Law Track - Courses & Requirements

Collage of photos of a theatre, art museum and soccer arena

 

The arts track prepares students to represent artists, collectors, auction houses and galleries, private foundations, and museums.

All courses are taught by prominent practicing attorneys and the blended nature of the LL.M. enables students to maximize their studies and create a curriculum particular to their goals.

The superior training provided gives graduates an edge when breaking into the competitive arts industry as an arts law attorney.

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  • What is an "Arts Law Attorney"?

    The diverse nature of the field requires art lawyers to have a wide range of legal expertise to represent their clients effectively and a command of the treaties, statutes, and common law that apply specifically to artists, collectors, and the art market.

    An art law attorney must have the skills of a generalist and the knowledge of a specialist. Art lawyers work in law firms, museums, auction houses, and financial institutions.

    They navigate complex issues such as:

    • Stolen art
    • Art authentication
    • Artists’ rights
    • Illicit antiquities
    • Estate planning for artists, and
    • The distribution of art in the digital age

    Although many consider intellectual property law as the core of an art law practice, representing artists, dealers, and collectors brings in multiple areas of the law including contracts, torts, estate planning, property, tax, real estate, nonprofit law, public and private international law, and Constitutional issues such as free speech and censorship.

Courses and Requirements

U.S. Trained Lawyers

Prerequisites (4 of 6 required or equivalent):

  • Administrative Law
  • Antitrust
  • Business Associations
  • Federal Income Tax
  • Labor Law
  • Trusts and Estates

Required and elective courses provide a well-rounded but field-specific curriculum to match individual students’ interests.

Elective course topics are subject to availability of faculty and classrooms.

Note: Non-listed required and elective courses may be taken with approval of the Director of the program.

Art Law

Examines the interaction of law and the visual arts within the U.S. legal system. Topics include artists' rights in their works; the art market, with an emphasis on problems of authenticity and good title; the fate of art in times of armed conflict; and art museums.  

Copyright Law

Addresses legal protection provided under the Copyright Act of 1976 (and subsequent amendments) for artistic, architectural, musical, and literary works.

Trademark Law

Introduces legal protection under U.S. law for trademarks, service marks and trade dress; also covers related state and common law doctrines and relevant international agreements.

Practicum

A practicum requirement affords students the opportunity for additional training in the workplace.

  • Business, Entertainment & Sports Immigration Law
  • Copyright & Trademark Litigation
  • Cultural Property and Antiquities Trafficking: Importation Laws and Border Enforcement
  • Entertainment Law in Latin America
  • Intellectual Property in Digital Media
  • Fashion Law
  • Intellectual Property Transactions & Negotiations
    • Mansour Ghomeshi, VP, General Counsel, and Secretary of the Board of Directors, 360fly
  • Sneaker Law
    • Kenneth Anand, Co-Author - Sneaker Law, Founder,3 8 0 Group, Former Head of Business Development & General Counsel of YEEZY Apparel
    • Jared Goldstein, Co-Author - Sneaker Law, Legal Counsel at LiveIntent Inc.
  • Artists' Foundations:  Law and Policy
  • Museum Law
  • Cultural Property and Heritage Law
  • International Copyright
  • Legal Fundamentals of Technology Outsourcing Agreements
  • Taxation of Exempt Organizations
  • Negotiating and Drafting for the Business of Entertainment
  • Union Organizing and Collective Bargaining in the Entertainment Industry
  • Communications Law
  • Digital Rights Law
  • Media Distribution
  • Media Law
  • Arbitration of Art and Cultural Heritage Disputes
  • Vimeo, Twitter and Youtube: Online Liability and Net Neutrality
  • International Copyright
  • Legal Fundamentals of Technology Outsourcing Agreements

 

International Students Who Plan to Take the NY Bar

International students have the option to do a special course of study in the LL.M. in Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law to accumulate enough credits to comply with the State Board of Law Examiners’ requirements to qualify to sit for the New York Bar Exam.

These students still complete the LL.M. in the same two-semester period and earn the same degree.

If an international student does not want to take the NY bar or wants to take additional courses, they can fulfill the credit requirement by enrolling in EASL electives of their choosing.

Prerequisites: None

Art Law

Examines the interaction of law and the visual arts within the U.S. legal system. Topics include artists' rights in their works; the art market, with an emphasis on problems of authenticity and good title; the fate of art in times of armed conflict; and art museums.   

Copyright Law

Addresses legal protection provided under the Copyright Act of 1976 (and subsequent amendments) for artistic, architectural, musical, and literary works.

Trademark Law

Introduces legal protection under U.S. law for trademarks, service marks and trade dress; also covers related state and common law doctrines and relevant international agreements.

Practicum

A practicum requirement affords students the opportunity for additional training in the workplace.

  • Immersive Introduction to American Law (2 credits)*
  • Legal Communication and Research I (2 credits)*
  • Business Associations (4 credits) ^ *
  • Professional Responsibility (2 credits)*

* This course complies with the State Board of Law Examiners’ requirements to qualify to sit for the New York Bar Exam.

^The requirement to enroll in Business Associations may be waived with the prior approval of the Director of the Program.

See more information for foreign lawyers on taking a U.S. Bar Exam.

Learn Outside of the Classroom

The Hoffman Forum

The Hoffman Forum provides an annual opportunity to have collaborative and interdisciplinary programs related to issues at the intersection of law, public policy, the arts, and social justice. Speakers include leaders from the worlds of the arts, sciences, law, politics, entertainment, sports, and business to meet in a structured setting to discuss timely and important issues and unexpected events and opportunities. The Hoffman Forum operates under the Arts Law Track in Miami Law's Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law LL.M.

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  • See past events

    Aspen InstituteThe Aspen Institute – Artist-Endowed Foundations Initiative/AEFI – Miami Law and AEFI hosted the annual Hoffman Forum from 2014-2019. This event brought together senior leaders of artist-endowed foundations to exchange ideas. It has been hosted at: New York’s Museum of Modern Art, The Morgan Library and Museum, The Richard Avedon Foundation, The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, The Roy Lichtenstein Foundation and more.



    Legal LinkLegalLink - In 2003, EASL Advisory Board Member Carolina Jayaram, co-founded LegalLink dedicated to providing legal services to arts organizations and local artists. EASL students can work with LegalLink assiting on matters not just realted to art, but also to estate planning, family law, immigration, contracts, business law, real estate, taxes, copyright, trademark, and more. The Law School has hosted LegalLink on its premises since September 2016.

Leadership & Faculty

Track Directors

vivek jayaramVivek Jayaram - Co-Director Arts Track, Founder at Jayaram Law, EASL Advisory Board Member.

Vivek Jayaram is an attorney who practices in the areas of business litigation, copyright, trademark, and commercial transactions. He has represented a number of Fortune 500 companies as well as small and midsized corporations around the world in a variety of industries, including technology, healthcare, digital media, software, food and beverage, engineering, real estate development & construction, and the arts. Vivek has years of experience handling complex intellectual property matters and general business disputes on behalf of companies in state and federal courts around the country.

 


carolina jayaramCarolina Jayaram - Co-Director Arts Track, Founding CEO at Elevate Prize Foundation, EASL Advisory Board Member

Carolina García Jayaram is the Founding CEO of The Elevate Prize Foundation, a global purpose-driven nonprofit that serves to amplify social impact and empower passionate problem solvers, leaders, and innovators.

García Jayaram has over two decades of experience in leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to enriching and shaping social impact, philanthropy, and culture. She is a devoted advocate for the democratization of philanthropy, increasing the visibility of changemakers on mainstream platforms to deepen their impact and the creation of pathways for everyone to take action and ignite social change.

She most recently served as CEO & president of the National Young Arts Foundation and, prior to that, as president & CEO of United States Artists, where she created a funder coalition endowment to help support the country’s most accomplished artists.

Faculty

Michael Cheah - General Counsel of Vimeo, one of the premiere video-sharing websites. Responsible for leading the company’s public policy and legal compliance efforts.

Lin Cherry - Chief Legal Officer and Head of Diversity & Inclusion at Wizeline

Ana Francois - Faculty member at University of Miami School of Communication. Francois specializes in media management issues such as startups, rights management and valuations.

Mansour Ghomeshi - IP expert and VP and General Counsel at 360fly. Previously lead IP counsel at Motorola and teaches course on Intellectual Property, Transactions and Negotiations. 

Jaime Rich Vining - Teaches Trademark and Advanced Trademark Law, and named a “Rising Star” by Florida’s Super Lawyer Magazine since 2009.

Dennis Scholl - Teaches Special Topics in Cinematic Arts: Producing the Art Documentary

Jonathan Zwibel - Expert in the customs laws at the U.S. border and ports of entry, with particular expertise in the legal protection of cultural patrimony and the laws preventing the international trafficking and looting of cultural property and antiquities. Deputy Associate Chief Counsel for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

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Miami – An International City of the Arts

Art Basel gallery

Miami is a major center in today’s art world. It boasts everything from small galleries to major art fairs such as Art Basel Miami, internationally recognized as the most important annual market for modern and contemporary art.

Miami has world class museums, a remarkable group of private collections open to the public, and a community of artists supported by organizations such as ArtCenter South Florida (whose president and chief executive officer, Dennis Scholl, is an alumnus of Miami Law). The University of Miami is home to the Lowe Art Museum and the Beaux Art Festival, Miami's oldest juried fine arts festival.

The proximity of these venues is ideal for training and enables students to have site visits with gallerists, museum professionals, lawyers practicing in the field, and provides Arts track students multiple opportunities to complete their practicum requirement.

Miami Law Art News:

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