2nd Circuit To Decide Whether Vermont Law School Can Cover Underground Railroad Murals Against Artist's Wishes

Following up on my previous posts (links below), Bloomberg Law, Law School’s Covering of Slavery Murals Probed by 2nd Cir.:

Vermont Law School found a somewhat receptive Second Circuit as it defended a ruling allowing it to permanently cover murals depicting the Underground Railroad without violating an artists’ rights law.

Artist Samuel Kerson argued that the school hiding his two 1994 murals behind bolted-in acoustic panels violated the Visual Artists Rights Act, or VARA, during Friday’s oral argument at the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. But the school says it complied with the law when it hid murals that students complained about for decades as “cartoonish” depictions of slaves and promotion of the “white savior complex.”

The dispute raises questions regarding how far VARA limits the property rights of the owners of their physical art, and the reach of exceptions written into the law. The US District Court for the District of Vermont’s ruling said that “no court has ruled that VARA protects the artist’s interest in keeping his art visible or on display.”

• Fox News, Appeals Court Hears Artist's Case Against Vermont Law School For Hiding Murals
• New York Law Journal, 2nd Circuit Weighs Fate of Controversial Mural at Vermont Law and Graduate School

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage: 

• Vermont Law School To Paint Over Mural Celebrating State's Role In The Underground Railroad And Abolitionist Movement Because Depiction Of Blacks 'Made Some People Uncomfortable' (July 11, 2020)
• Vermont Law School Gives Artist 90 Days To Remove 'Offensive' Mural (July 27, 2020)
• Artist Defends Mural Honoring Underground Railroad And Abolitionist Movement That Vermont Law School Plans To Paint Over Because Some Black Students Say It Is Racist (July 31, 2020)
• Artist Sues To Prevent Vermont Law School From Painting Over Underground Railroad Murals That Black Students Call Racist (Dec. 4, 2020)
• Vermont Law School Moves To Dismiss Lawsuit By Artist To Protect Underground Railroad Murals That Black Students Call Racist (Feb. 7, 2021)
• The Writing Is On The Wall For Vermont Law School's Underground Railroad Murals After Federal Judge’s Ruling (Mar. 13, 2021)
• Debate Continues Over Vermont Law School's Underground Railroad Murals That Black Students Call Racist (Sept. 6, 2021)
• Federal District Court Holds Hearing On Controversial Mural Today At Vermont Law School (Oct. 8, 2021)
• Federal Judge Rules That Vermont Law School Can Cover Underground Railroad Murals Despite Artist's Objection (Oct. 21, 2021)
• Artist To Appeal Federal District Court's Decision Allowing Vermont Law School To Cover Underground Railroad Murals (Nov. 1, 2021)