Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Who owns Vivian Maier?

“A court case in Chicago seeking to name a previously unknown heir is threatening to tie her legacy in knots and could prevent her work from being seen again for years”: A Legal Battle Over Vivian Maier’s Work (The New York Times).

A related post
Darger and Maier

[I’ve always been puzzled that the discovery of Henry Darger’s work didn’t prompt similar legal action.]

comments: 3

Chris said...

There's something unbelievably absurd, not to mention sordid, about lawyers hunting all over France for "heirs" who had no knowledge of Maier's existence.

The moral of the story, I guess, is never die without a rock-solid will.

Daughter Number Three said...

Oh no! What a strange idea that distant relatives who didn't know her an never helped her when she needed it late in life would benefit... and even worse if it would tie up access to her work.

Michael Leddy said...

I’ve wondered what will happen to Finding Vivian Maier (the film) too. This lawyer is doing neither Maier nor her work any good.