Animal reports that New York City street artist, Poster Boy, was sentenced to 11 months in jail this morning in a Brooklyn courthouse. Poster Boy, a.k.a. Henry Matyjewicz, is known for using a razor blade to mash-up subway ads. Matyjewicz’s legal troubles began last December when he pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal mischief [...]

Google’s effort to create a digital library is once again under legal scrutiny. The Open Book Alliance issued a study detailing how the proposed Google Book Settlement violates international laws and treaties. The report, compiled by notable intellectual property attorney Cynthia Arato, notes, if approved, the settlement would grant Google automatic rights to exploit digitally [...]

Do you remember the scene in Pollock where he settles his grocery bill with a painting? How about stories of businesses saving Picasso’s personal checks because his signature was often worth more than the tab? It turns out that the Mexican government has had a long standing artwork-as-currency policy, at least for settling tax debts. [...]

The Champaign, Illinois band Elsinore caught some heat from the estate of Roy Lichtenstein for use of a derivative work on the cover of its forthcoming Yes Yes Yes. The piece, made during college by Brittany Pyle, a friend of the band, is based on the same source image Lichtenstein used for Kiss V (1964). [...]

The National Gallery, London will exhibit forgeries from its permanent collection. Close Examination: Fakes, Mistakes and Discoveries “showcase[s] some of the most intriguing stories behind paintings in the Gallery, as it explores the ways in which advances in scholarship and technology can reveal the misconceptions of the past.” The exhibit runs June 30 to September [...]

Over 1,200 works from the Polaroid Collection of Photography are headed to auction at Sotheby’s on June 21/22, 2010. The works are being liquidated by order of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota. Proceeds from the auction, estimated at upwards of $11.5 million, will be paid to the creditors of the defunct [...]

The Burning Man Organization (BMO) is calling for community feedback on its camera policy, including its approach to image rights. The section reads as follows: “Use of Images” I UNDERSTAND AND ACCEPT THAT NO USE OF IMAGES, FILM, OR VIDEO OBTAINED AT THE EVENT MAY BE MADE WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM BURNING MAN, OTHER [...]

The New York Times is reporting that several Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) patrons have been removed from the gallery for “improperly touching” performers in the Marina Abramovic retrospective, “The Artist is Present.” The retrospective features performers, some nude, re-enacting performance pieces by Abramovic. I have to echo the sentiment of one of the performers [...]