On February 21st, the Maryland Law Review hosted its annual symposium. This year’s theme, Art Law: The Artist’s Fight for Creative Control, brought together legal scholars and practitioners from across the United States to discuss hot-button and emerging issues impacting artists today.
The day began with a keynote from Amy Adler, Emily Kempin Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law. Her talk, “The Disappearing Human Artist,” grounded audience members in the long trajectory of technology’s influence on art in ways that remove human input, tracing this history to the invention of photography in the 19th century. Her keynote presented a reflection on how this trend in art has led us to AI art today, which would be built upon in the symposium’s panels.
Following Professor Adler’s keynote, the symposium’s first panel invited four faculty to discuss current human rights issues impacting artists. First, Andrea Dennis, Martin Chair of Law at the University of Georgia School of Law, spoke on the relationship between art, slavery, and mass incarceration, both in U.S. history and today. Next, Deborah Weissman, Reef C. Ivey II Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, discussed the political pendulum impacting artists incarcerated at Guantánamo and their rights to possess and sell works they create. Subsequently, Trevor Reed, Charter Professor of Law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, explained his theories on how revisions to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act may create a new enhanced duty of care standard related to museums’ handling of indigenous cultural items. Finally, Anne-Marie Carstens, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law, discussed humanitarian law and the impact of war on cultural heritage sites.
After a lunch period featuring a pop-up gallery from local artists and a walking tour of the 1807 Magazine’s Pearl Street Garage mural gallery, the second panel commenced. This panel included four faculty discussing emerging issues in art and copyright. Alfred Yen, Professor of Law and Dean’s Distinguished Scholar at Boston College of Law, kicked off the panel by showing how copyright can pit artists against each other, particularly after reproductions are created. Next, Jacob Noti-Victor, Associate Professor of Law at Cardozo Law School, discussed how the Copyright Office Review Board makes copyright determinations in AI-generated art cases. Following this, Kristelia García, Leo George Professor of Communications, Entertainment, and New Media at Georgetown University, teased out the tensions between copyright’s goals of incentivizing creation and increasing public access to art. Lastly, Brian Frye, Spears-Gilbert Professor of Law at the University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law, proposed that AI reinforces “uncreativity,” the idea that copyright law requires minimal amounts of creativity.
Finally, the third panel brought practitioners together to discuss a critical issue impacting artists in Maryland today. Adam Holofcener, Esq., and Christia Ravenell, Esq., the Executive Director and Staff Attorney at Maryland Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts respectively, and Nicholas Cohen, Executive Director at Maryland Citizens for the Arts, discussed the case history involving various defendants’ rap lyrics being used by Maryland prosecutors as evidence during their criminal trials. The panelists also discussed their joint work to lobby Maryland’s legislature to pass the Protecting the Admissibility of Creative Expression (PACE) Act, which would restrict the admissibility of a defendant’s creative expression.
Overall, this symposium served as a fantastic opportunity for scholars, practitioners, students, artists, and community members to engage with each other and learn about the vast legal issues impacting many artists’ daily lives. This event was organized by Tyler Fultz ’25 and could not have been executed without the amazing Maryland Law Review Symposium Committee—Fiona Carmichael ’25, Sarah Gough ’25, Roshnie Rupnarain ’26, and Rianna Mukherjee ’26. We are so grateful for everyone who attended, and those who wish to view the symposium can go to https://mediasite.umaryland.edu/Mediasite/Play/a2f4bc16531046b1baf957a733913cd31d.