Michigan Laws 442.322 – Warranties by art merchant; written instrument; effect of furnishing name of artist; negation or limitation of warranty; construing degree of authenticity of authorship
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Any provision in any other law to the contrary notwithstanding:
(a) If an art merchant, in selling or exchanging a work of fine art, furnishes to a buyer of the work who is not an art merchant, a written instrument which, in describing the work, identifies it with an author or authorship, the description is presumed to be part of the basis of the bargain and creates an express warranty of the authenticity of the authorship as of the date of the sale or exchange. However, if an art merchant furnishes the name of an artist pursuant to section 7 or 8 of the art multiples sales act, the art merchant for purposes of that information is bound by this section, whether or not the purchaser is an art merchant. The warranty is not negated or limited because the art merchant in the written instrument did not use formal words such as “warrant” or “guarantee”, because he or she did not have a specific intention or authorization to make a warranty, or because any statement relevant to authorship is, or purports to be, or is capable of being merely the art merchant’s opinion.
Terms Used In Michigan Laws 442.322
- Art merchant: means a person who deals in works of fine art or by his occupation holds himself out as having knowledge or skill peculiar to works of fine art or to whom such knowledge or skill may be attributed by his employment of an agent or broker or other intermediary who by his occupation holds himself out as having such knowledge or skill. See Michigan Laws 442.321
- authorship: refers to the creator of a work of fine art or to the period, culture, source or origin with which the creation of the work is identified in the description of the work. See Michigan Laws 442.321
- Fine art: means a painting, sculpture, drawing or work of graphic art. See Michigan Laws 442.321
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories belonging to the United States; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the district and territories. See Michigan Laws 8.3o
- Written instrument: means a written or printed agreement, bill of sale, or any other written or printed note or memorandum of the sale or exchange of a work of fine art by an art merchant and includes a written or printed catalog or other prospectus of a forthcoming sale as well as any written or printed corrections or amendments thereof. See Michigan Laws 442.321
(b) In construing the degree of authenticity of authorship warranted, due regard shall be given to the terminology used in describing the authorship and the meaning accorded to the terminology by the customs and usage of the trade at the time and in the locality where the sale or exchange took place. A written instrument delivered pursuant to a sale which took place in this state which, in describing the work, states, for example:
(i) That the work is by a named author or has a named authorship, without any other limiting words, means, unequivocally, that the work is by the named author or has the named authorship.
(ii) That the work is attributed to a named author means a work of the period of the author, attributed to the author, but not with certainty by the named author.
(iii) That the work is of the school of a named author means a work of the period of the author, by a pupil or close follower of the author but not by the author.