The Visual Artists Rights Act

The Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) became a part of the federal law of the United States in 1990.  It protects what is referred to as the moral rights of artists.  Moral rights are concerned with an artist's natural rights in the work that resulted from his or her labor.  They involve the concept that the resulting artwork represents the face, the dignity, of the artist.  Moral rights often are concerned with an artist’s right to be associated with the artwork, by ensuring that his or her name is attached to it.  They also often are related to preventing mutilation and destruction of the artists artwork, or permitting the artist to recover damages from such an act, even if the artist no longer owns the physical work.

Historically, moral rights have not been a part of U.S., law but are often found in other countries, particularly those of the EU.  Prior and after VARA, some U.S. states enacted laws that deal with variations on moral rights.  However, because these were/are state laws, the rights contained in them are limited to those respective local areas.  VARA is a federal law, and therefore is effective nation-wide in the U.S. and it preempts (overrides) state laws on points where they are in direct conflict with VARA. 

In essence, VARA resulted from international issues, rather than domestic concerns about the conditions of artists in the U.S.  The law was enacted so that the country’s internal laws would comply with the requirements of an international treaty, the Berne Convention treaty, which is concerned with international copyright issues.  The Berne treaty is vital to trade relationships between the member countries.  Berne also ensures that copyrights are available to artists (and others) in countries other than their own.  Therefore, in order to harmonize copyrights across borders, the U.S. added moral rights to the laws that related to visual art.

It should be noted that the Act protects works of a "recognized stature" from intentional destruction. This feature of the law has proven to be relevent particularly for public artworks, and especially those of large scale. References to some of these cases and circumstances follow at the end of the page.

The Act (VARA) protects visual artwork that consists of:

Painting, drawing and sculptures with 200 copies or less (limited editions), that are numbered and signed by the artist, or;

Photographs (for exhibition) with 200 copies or less (limited editions), that are numbered and signed by the artist.

These are the only types of artwork presently encompassed.  Because of the limitation on copies, the law is not intended to protect mass-produced objects.  Also, it should be noted that there are requirements of numbering (e.g., 4/25, 99/101)1 and the signature of the artist on the work. 


VARA protects the following rights of the artist (author):

The right to claim authorship of work that he or she created.  (The artist’s name must be associated with the work if the artist chooses).

The right to prevent:

- His or her name from being associated with work he or she did NOT create.

- His or her name from being associated with the artwork, if the artwork has been changed or mutilated (distorted or modified) in some way.

- Deliberate mutilation, distortion, modifications and changes to the artwork.

- Destruction of artwork that is of a “recognized stature” (famous), if the damage is intentional or negligent.2

Only the artist of the original artwork can claim these rights, and the rights continue only during the lifetime of the artist.  The rights can be claimed for qualifying work made on or after June 1, 1991,3 or; work made earlier than June 1991, but is still owned by the artist.

For more information and details, the text of the law follows below:

17 U.S.C. § 106A

§ 106A. Rights of certain authors to attribution and integrity


(a) Rights of Attribution and Integrity.— Subject to section 107 and independent of the exclusive rights provided in section 106, the author of a work of visual art—

(1) shall have the right—
(A) to claim authorship of that work, and
(B) to prevent the use of his or her name as the author of any work of visual art which he or she did not create;

(2) shall have the right to prevent the use of his or her name as the author of the work of visual art in the event of a distortion, mutilation, or other modification of the work which would be prejudicial to his or her honor or reputation; and
(3) subject to the limitations set forth in section 113 (d), shall have the right—

(A) to prevent any intentional distortion, mutilation, or other modification of that work which would be prejudicial to his or her honor or reputation, and any intentional distortion, mutilation, or modification of that work is a violation of that right, and
(B) to prevent any destruction of a work of recognized stature, and any intentional or grossly negligent destruction of that work is a violation of that right.

(b) Scope and Exercise of Rights.— Only the author of a work of visual art has the rights conferred by subsection (a) in that work, whether or not the author is the copyright owner. The authors of a joint work of visual art are coowners of the rights conferred by subsection (a) in that work.

(c) Exceptions.—

(1) The modification of a work of visual art which is a result of the passage of time or the inherent nature of the materials is not a distortion, mutilation, or other modification described in subsection (a)(3)(A).
(2) The modification of a work of visual art which is the result of conservation, or of the public presentation, including lighting and placement, of the work is not a destruction, distortion, mutilation, or other modification described in subsection (a)(3) unless the modification is caused by gross negligence.
(3) The rights described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) shall not apply to any reproduction, depiction, portrayal, or other use of a work in, upon, or in any connection with any item described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of the definition of “work of visual art” in section 101, and any such reproduction, depiction, portrayal, or other use of a work is not a destruction, distortion, mutilation, or other modification described in paragraph (3) of subsection (a).

(d) Duration of Rights.—

(1) With respect to works of visual art created on or after the effective date set forth in section 610(a) of the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990, the rights conferred by subsection (a) shall endure for a term consisting of the life of the author.
(2) With respect to works of visual art created before the effective date set forth in section 610(a) of the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990, but title to which has not, as of such effective date, been transferred from the author, the rights conferred by subsection (a) shall be coextensive with, and shall expire at the same time as, the rights conferred by section 106.
(3) In the case of a joint work prepared by two or more authors, the rights conferred by subsection (a) shall endure for a term consisting of the life of the last surviving author.
(4) All terms of the rights conferred by subsection (a) run to the end of the calendar year in which they would otherwise expire.

(e) Transfer and Waiver.—

(1) The rights conferred by subsection (a) may not be transferred, but those rights may be waived if the author expressly agrees to such waiver in a written instrument signed by the author. Such instrument shall specifically identify the work, and uses of that work, to which the waiver applies, and the waiver shall apply only to the work and uses so identified. In the case of a joint work prepared by two or more authors, a waiver of rights under this paragraph made by one such author waives such rights for all such authors.
(2) Ownership of the rights conferred by subsection (a) with respect to a work of visual art is distinct from ownership of any copy of that work, or of a copyright or any exclusive right under a copyright in that work. Transfer of ownership of any copy of a work of visual art, or of a copyright or any exclusive right under a copyright, shall not constitute a waiver of the rights conferred by subsection (a). Except as may otherwise be agreed by the author in a written instrument signed by the author, a waiver of the rights conferred by subsection (a) with respect to a work of visual art shall not constitute a transfer of ownership of any copy of that work, or of ownership of a copyright or of any exclusive right under a copyright in that work.

(current January 3, 2007)

The definition of visual art for the above is:

17 U.S.C. § 101. Definitions (excerpt)

A “work of visual art” is—

(1) a painting, drawing, print, or sculpture, existing in a single copy, in a limited edition of 200 copies or fewer that are signed and consecutively numbered by the author, or, in the case of a sculpture, in multiple cast, carved, or fabricated sculptures of 200 or fewer that are consecutively numbered by the author and bear the signature or other identifying mark of the author; or

(2) a still photographic image produced for exhibition purposes only, existing in a single copy that is signed by the author, or in a limited edition of 200 copies or fewer that are signed and consecutively numbered by the author.

A work of visual art does not include—

(A) (i) any poster, map, globe, chart, technical drawing, diagram, model, applied art, motion picture or other audiovisual work, book, magazine, newspaper, periodical, data base, electronic information service, electronic publication, or similar publication;

(ii) any merchandising item or advertising, promotional, descriptive, covering, or packaging material or container;

(iii) any portion or part of any item described in clause (i) or (ii);

(B) any work made for hire; or

(C) any work not subject to copyright protection under this title.
(Current January 3, 2007)


Resources and References:

Martin v. City of Indianpolis (case decision); artist successfully asserts VARA. See also, capsule summary of Martin case.

Massachusetts Art Preservation Act (statutory text and notes)

New York Artist Authorship Rights (article)

See also, The Basic Legal Structure; Courts and Statutes


1 It is unclear as to whether the “A/P” (Artist’s Proof) mark is sufficient for VARA numbering purposes.  Since the law states that the editions must be limited and A/P is not clearly limited, works marked A/P may not be covered.  Also, this mark is generally used in-house by artists even though the works are sometimes sold or transferred.  In opinion only, the A/P mark might not meet the requirements.  To qualify for VARA protection, artists may be best to only release multiples when marked with a clear numbering system; one that indicates the limit of the edition.

2 Also, be aware that damage and mutilation issues don’t apply if they occurred before the effective date (of June 1991).  See 3, following.


3 The “1990” in the Act’s title refers to the date it was enacted (passed), but the actual effective date was stipulated as 6 months later.  The date of enactment was December 1, 1990 (Public Law 101-650).  Accordingly, then the actual date that this law was effective was June 1, 1991. 


Copyright © 2008 - 2009 Jennifer Unruh. No claim to public domain material. Licensing Information.

Unless otherwise stated, the original writings contained in this website are solely the expression of opinion by the author(s) and are not intended to provide or be a substitute for professional legal advice. Statues and other governmental publications are provided for informational and educational purposes only. For legal matters, the advice of an attorney should be timely sought.  Be aware that the preservation of legal rights may be time sensitive. The author(s) does not promote or endorse any particular legal service provider. This website is not attorney advertising.

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