Cohen v. G & M Realty L.P.
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
988 F. Supp. 2d 212, 2013 Copr. L. Dec. P 30, 523 (2013)
- Written by Eric Miller, JD
Facts
A group of derelict buildings achieved nationwide recognition as a particularly large collection of aerosol-based graffiti art. The buildings were owned by G & M Realty L.P. (defendant) and Gerald Wolkoff (defendant), who planned to demolish them and replace them with apartments. Wolkoff informally agreed to let artist Jonathan Cohen (plaintiff) serve as a curator for the graffiti art on the property. Although Cohen regarded some of the artwork as temporary and some as permanent, Wolkoff viewed the entire arrangement as temporary. Wolkoff obtained the city’s approval for the demolition. Cohen sought a preliminary injunction under the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA), which gave the author of a visual work of recognized stature the right to prevent destruction of the work, though the act left the meaning of the phrase recognized stature to the determination of the courts. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York denied Cohen injunctive relief. A written opinion explaining this denial came after the buildings were demolished.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Block, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 814,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.