Greetings!

As we step into 2026, I want to reflect on an extraordinary year for the Berkeley Art, Law, and Finance Project—and look ahead to what's next.

Last year's symposium at SFMOMA was our most ambitious yet, featuring a historic discussion on the first AI-generated artwork to receive copyright registration and panels on cultural heritage, market dynamics, and sustainable art practices. Beyond the symposium, we deepened our academic offerings through courses, lectures, and webinars—including a recent conversation on legal personhood for artwork that inspired my new blog post, "Should Artwork Have Legal Rights?" Our international footprint also expanded through an invitation to present at IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca in Italy.

None of this would be possible without you: the readers, attendees, speakers, and supporters who make this community what it is.

📅 Coming Up:

Art Markets & the UBS Wealth Report | Jan 15 @ 10:00 AM PT

How is wealth reshaping collecting? Learn more and register>

Save the Date: June 4, 2026

Our fifth annual symposium returns to SFMOMA with the theme Custodianship, Authorship, Autonomy—exploring constitutional law and curatorial independence, Indigenous cultural property, and foundational texts in art law and ethics.

Here's to a bold year ahead.



With gratitude,

Delia

Delia Violante

Founding Director of the Berkeley Art, Law, and Finance Project

Berkeley Center for Law and Business

Keith van der Walde - LT1 - 12 x 48 inches, mixed media on canvas

Academic Corner

TELIA MARY WILLIAMS | STCL HOUSTON

In "Dancing About Architecture: A Case for the Attenuation of Trademark Ownership in Favor of Cultural Property," Telia Mary Williams of South Texas College of Law Houston argues that the "Washington Redskins" debate extends beyond trademark into cultural property. At its core, this is a question about visual culture: who has the right to create, control, and retire images of a community? Williams critiques both the commodification of Native American and Black American imagery and corporate decisions to discontinue such images — often over objections from the depicted communities themselves. Drawing on theories of cultural appropriation and collective ownership, she calls for an approach that reconciles trademark law with cultural stewardship. Read more>

ESSENTIAL READS

9th Circuit: Tattoo Copyright

COURTHOUSE NEWS

The Ninth Circuit upheld a jury verdict finding that tattoo artist Kat Von D's Miles Davis tattoo did not infringe photographer Jeffrey Sedlik's copyright, affirming fair use. Two concurring judges criticized the court's test for infringement, arguing it may overlook copying across different media. Read more>

Public Domain Day 2026

COPYRIGHT LATELY

On January 1, 2026, works from 1930 and sound recordings from 1925 entered the U.S. public domain, including Nancy Drew, The Maltese Falcon, early Betty Boop cartoons, and songs by Gershwin and Carmichael. Read more>

2026's Awaited Museum Openings

ARTNET

Major openings include the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, LA's Dataland and LACMA expansion, and growth at Crystal Bridges and the New Museum. In Europe: Kanal Pompidou in Brussels and Fondazione Dries Van Noten in Venice. Read more>

Egyptian Grand Museum Opens

THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Grand Egyptian Museum opened in November 2025, displaying 5,500+ objects from Tutankhamen's tomb together for the first time. Its opening has reinvigorated calls for repatriation of Egyptian antiquities held abroad. Read more>

"King of Pop Art" Financial Crime

FINANCE UNCOVERED

Billionaire collector José Mugrabi is under scrutiny as his nephew faces money-laundering charges in Colombia. A new investigation questions whether some funds used to build Mugrabi's renowned art collection may be linked to the case. Read more>

Trump Rings In $2.75M Painting

ARTNEWS

At President Trump's New Year's Eve party at Mar-a-Lago, a portrait of Jesus Christ—painted onstage by "worship artist" Vanessa Horabuena—sold for $2.75 million. Proceeds will be split between St. Jude's Children's Hospital and the local sheriff's department. Read more>

AI Basilica Reconstruction

THE ART NEWSPAPER

A Cimabue fresco destroyed in the 1997 Assisi earthquakes may be reconstructed using AI. Researchers are analyzing 120,000 fragments alongside pre-earthquake photographs to assess whether the lost Saint Matthew section can be reassembled. Read more>

LDS Church Returns Tribal Items

SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

A 1,200-year-old petroglyph created by the Fremont people has been returned to the Shoshone Nation after 80 years at a Utah meetinghouse. The case highlights how repatriation efforts extend beyond museum collections. Read more>

Met Museum Union Petition

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Met employees have filed to form a union representing nearly 1,000 workers, including curators, conservators, and educators. If approved, the Met would become one of the largest unionized museums in the country. Read more>

UK Insures £800M Tapestry

THE ART NEWSPAPER

The fragile Bayeux Tapestry will travel to the British Museum in 2026 for its first UK display in nearly 1,000 years. The UK Treasury will insure the medieval masterpiece for an estimated £800m. Read more>

Report Alert: Survey of Global Collecting 2025

UBS

High-net-worth collectors increased art allocation to 20% of wealth in 2025. Female collectors outspent men by 46%, younger generations gravitated toward digital art and luxury collectibles, and 84% remain optimistic about the market's short-term future. Read more>

‘The Starry Night’: Quantum Phenomenon

ARTNET

Van Gogh's The Starry Night (1889) has long captivated art lovers with its swirling, emotive sky. Scientists now say its patterns are uncannily similar to "exotic vortex patterns" produced by quantum Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. Read more>

Meet the Artist

KEITH VAN DER WALDE

British-American artist and aerospace engineer Keith van der Walde is a California-based painter specializing in patterned mark-making. His paintings are characterized by their vibrant energy and playfulness, coupled with their depth of underlying structure—a duality reflective of the simultaneous intuitive and analytical processes he invokes in their creation. Celebrating and building upon the work of Keith Haring, and drawing inspiration from such luminaries as Jean Dubuffet and Joan Miro, Keith combines the familiar with the new as he sets forth his own aesthetic language. Keith received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University. His aerospace work is focused primarily on the support of NASA/JPL interplanetary missions; his design work on artfully reimagining everyday objects; and his paintings on engaging the imaginative and playful spirit of his audience. Learn more>

Please note that some articles listed may be subject to a paywall.

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