Museums

Quality Legal Services for Museums, Art Galleries and Cultural Organizations  

At Lehmann Strobel PC, we understand that museums and cultural institutions face unique challenges. Particularly in these uncertain and changing times, museums struggle to maintain financial viability while remaining true to mission. The use and protection of creative content and cultural resources pose difficult new questions. To remain relevant and viable, museums need guidance from professionals who can help to keep pace with changing legal, ethical and professional standards.  

Lehmann Strobel PC was founded on the belief that museums and cultural organizations need an alternative to large, expensive, litigious law firms. We know that you need efficient and effective legal and business affairs advice from lawyers who understand the museum profession. For more than a decade we have been providing professional advice to museums and cultural organizations of all kinds. Client list.

Whether you need help with intellectual property asset management, nonprofit administration and board governance, employment and volunteer management, or museum ethics and policies, we can help manage your creative and cultural assets to achieve your goals.

Case Studies

The Goldstein Museum of Design

“The Goldstein Museum of Design houses a permanent collection of costumes, decorative arts, graphic design and textiles. The museum’s textile curator had submitted a grant application to fund an exhibit of costumes. Some of the costumes were made by well-known fashion designers. Others were homemade or their origin was not fully documented. Asked by the grantor how the museum intended to address issues of copyright ownership in the costumes, the museum curator contacted Lehmann Strobel for advice. I explained to the curator that historically recognition of a copyright in utilitarian designs has been extremely limited. Although there is legislation pending in Congress to address the specific issue of clothing design, currently there are no provisions in the US Copyright Act which specifically address copyright in clothing designs. We discussed what “best practices” would be appropriate given the circumstances. As a result, the curator was able to assure the grantor that their concerns about copyright protection would be adequately addressed.”

-- Walter G. Lehmann, Managing Partner

Legal and Business Articles

• Museum Intellecual Property Audit  Understanding how to manage and exploit intellectual property assets, be they tangible assets like collections or buildings, or intangible assets such as...
• The Appropriateness of Appropriating Appropriation Art The acquisition of works of appropriation art raise puzzling legal and ethical questions for collecting museums.
• The Term of Copyright and the Public Domain It is usually necessary, and generally advisable, to obtain permission to use copyrightable material, unless the material is clearly in the public domain. Determining...
• Legal and Ethical Implications of Working with For-Profits (pdf NEW)
• Establishing Licit Markets In Antiquities (pdf NEW)
• Copyright — Is it Better to Own or License? I was recently asked by a producer to review an agreement he had received from the lawyer of an organization he had been working with to prepare a documentary...
• Cultural Icons Pose Unique Rights Clearance Issues  Incorporating pre-existing materials depicting celebrities, landmarks and other readily identifiable cultural objects in a new work can pose unique liability issues beyond the normal...
• Six Basic FAQs About Copyrights A copyright is a legally protected monopoly giving the owner of the copyright the exclusive right to publish, perform, or display the work, and to create derivative works...
• Museum Advocacy and the Law  Many museum boards and staff mistakenly believe that they cannot engage in public policy debates and advocacy activities without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status or otherwise...
• Fundraising Through Friends Groups  This paper will consider the use of affiliated entities — commonly referred to as friends groups, associates, foundations or advisory councils — to provide financial support to nonprofit...
• Sales Taxes — A Trap for Unwary Artists and Dealers In the past couple of years, high-profile cases involving the avoidance of sales and use taxes have underscored how important it is that artists, galleries and collectors clearly understand their...
• Strategies for Successful Corporate Sponsorhips For-profit companies have traditionally provided only a small fraction of museum revenues. Increasingly, however, these companies are recognizing the marketing power of being...
• Art Interrupted: Legal And Ethical Considerations Of Exhibiting Unfinished Commisioned Works What do you get when you combine a Swiss artist, a football field-sized museum gallery, and $300,000 worth of materials, including a two-story Cape Cod-style house...
• Appropriating Appropriation Art (106kb doc)
• Online Catalogues and Related Issues (39kb doc)

Legal Business Forms

• Corporate And Foundation Exhibition Sponsorship Agreement (266 kb PDF)
• Museum Exhibit Sponsorship Agreement (336 kb PDF)