Legal Question in Business Law in New York

Re: art business

This is a difficult question to answer, as no dollar amounts are specified. It is possible that the artist's "mark-up" may be sufficient so that your getting a smaller percentage may actually be very profitable to you. Plus, there is no way to evaluate his "labor" costs, as part of the overall cost of production. For example, your cost outlay may be several hundred dollars for supplies, advertising, etc., his labor may be many hours, and, after sale, his allocation of sales price may be several thousand dollars, so your percentage may vastly exceed your out-of-pocket costs. Likewise, your risk that his work may not have a market for sale, places you in a large cost outlay with small chance of recovery. More information is needed to evaluate this as on an economic basis. Maybe you should consider yourself a patron of the arts, sort of like a charitable contribution. Maybe you could negotiate to get some of his works in return for your contribution, so if he ever hits it big time, you would recoup later on. Hard to say what is best.

Re: art business

Whether you have an oral contract in the absence of the signed contract -- you stated that you did not sign it -- depends on the specific facts and circumstances of the case. Thus, without knowing more, it is not possible to opine whether you are bound to the terms he signed.

If not, you could renegotiate the written agreement. In so doing, it would be smart on your end to hire an experienced attorney to represent your interests.

Too many times people think to save money by not hiring a lawyer initially at the time of contract negotiation/drafting, only to spend much more when litigation commences due to inartful draftsmanship.

-- Kenneth J. Ashman; www.AshmanLawOffices.com; [email protected]

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