A new edition of a key textbook in art law, originally authored by the late John Merryman, has been released to address contemporary issues in the field. Merryman, who joined Stanford Law School in the 1950s, is recognized for pioneering art law as an academic discipline after observing legal questions raised by his wife Nancy’s work as a gallerist.
Merryman launched what is believed to be the first art law course in the United States at Stanford in 1970. Despite initial skepticism from some academics, his efforts led to widespread adoption of art law courses at many law schools across the country. The recently published sixth edition of “Law, Ethics and the Visual Arts,” first released in 1979 and co-authored with the late Albert Elsen, continues to serve as a central resource for students and professionals navigating legal issues related to art.
The new edition was published by Cambridge University Press and spans nearly 1,200 pages. It addresses legal topics such as artists’ rights over their works, taxation issues affecting artists and collectors, ownership of historical artifacts, and First Amendment protections for controversial artworks.
“It offers a full buffet of the world of art law,” said Simon J. Frankel, co-author of the sixth edition and California Superior Court judge who has taught art law at Stanford Law since 2012. “If you want to teach a class on art and intellectual property, everything you need is here. If you want to focus on art and museums or cultural property, it’s all in here, too. It’s essentially multiple textbooks in one.”
Frankel worked on this edition with Stephen K. Urice from University of Miami Law School. Merryman contributed during early planning stages before his death in 2015 and remains listed as a co-author.
Urice reflected on Merryman’s influence: “John’s scholarship set the standard for what art law could be,” he said. “With this edition, we wanted to preserve his voice while also ensuring the book speaks to the realities facing today’s students, practitioners, and the institutions they serve.”
Frankel noted that recent changes include expanded coverage of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on copyright law—such as whether AI systems can use copyrighted images for training or who owns rights to AI-generated works—as well as broader implications for artistic creation.
“Generative AI is raising fascinating legal questions,” Frankel said. “Can AI systems ingest copyrighted images for training? Who owns the copyright in AI-generated works? And beyond the law, how will this technology change art-making itself? These are big, unresolved questions, and we’re just at the beginning.”
The textbook also features an updated section on repatriation reflecting current debates about returning cultural objects to their countries of origin—a topic highlighted by recent high-profile cases like France returning artifacts to Benin or discussions over Britain’s Elgin Marbles.
“We’ve seen a noticeable acceleration in attitudes toward returning cultural objects to source countries,” Frankel said. “This raises important questions about what it means to be a ‘universal museum’ in an era when many cultures are demanding the return of their heritage.”
The structure of this edition follows what Frankel calls “the arc of the art world,” moving from artists through markets and museums before addressing disputes over cultural property. The authors have included not only judicial opinions but also contracts, depositions, treaties, literary excerpts—and stories illustrating real-world complexities faced by those working with art.
“Traditional law school casebooks are mostly cases and statutes,” Frankel explained. “This book tries to go further. It brings in commentary, primary materials, and cultural context. It’s designed to help readers understand not just the law but the art world itself – how artists, dealers, collectors, and museums interact, and the unique issues they face.”
Frankel emphasized that even students not planning careers specifically in art law benefit from exposure to these interdisciplinary challenges: “You encounter everything from unscrupulous dealers to visionary curators to heirs fighting for the return of stolen family treasures… Even for students who don’t go on to practice in this area, art law offers something critical to a legal education. It looks at how the law interacts with the real world – how it governs relationships and norms that weren’t necessarily developed with the law in mind.”
This story was originally published by Stanford Law School.
