Rhode Island General Laws 5-62-9. Express warranties
Notwithstanding any provision of any other law to the contrary:
(1) Whenever an art merchant, in selling or exchanging a work of fine art, furnishes a certificate of authenticity or any similar written instrument to a buyer of the work who is not an art merchant, it:
(i) Shall be presumed to be part of the basis of the bargain; and
(ii) Creates an express warranty for the material facts stated as of the date of the sale or exchange.
(2) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, the warranty shall not be negated or limited, provided that in construing the degree of warranty, due regard shall be given to the terminology used 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.
(3) Language used in a certificate of authenticity, or similar written instrument, stating that:
(i) The work is by a named author or has a named authorship, without any limiting words, means unequivocally that the work is by the named author or has the named authorship;
(ii) The work is “attributed to a named author” means a work of the period of the author, attributed to him or her, but not with certainty by him or her; or
(iii) 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.
(4)(i) An express warranty and disclaimers intended to negate or limit a warranty shall be construed, wherever reasonable, as consistent with each other, but subject to the provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code, § 6A-2-202, on parole or extrinsic evidence, negation or limitation is inoperative to the extent that the construction is unreasonable.
(ii) A negation or limitation is deemed unreasonable if:
(A) The disclaimer is not conspicuous, written, and apart from the warranty, in words that clearly and specifically apprise the buyer that the seller assumes no risk, liability, or responsibility for the material facts stated concerning the work of fine art. Words of general disclaimer are not sufficient to negate or limit an express warranty; or
(B) The work of fine art is proved to be a counterfeit and this was not clearly indicated in the description of the work; or
(C) The information provided is proved to be, as of the date of sale or exchange, false, mistaken, or erroneous.
History of Section.
P.L. 2000, ch. 429, § 2.
Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 5-62-9
- art merchant: includes an auctioneer who sells art works at public auction, and except in the case of multiples, includes persons, not otherwise defined or treated as art merchants in this section, who are consignors or principals of auctioneers. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-62-2
- authorship: refers to the creator of a work of fine art or multiple or to the period, culture, source, or origin, as the case may be, with which the creation of that work is identified in the description of the work. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-62-2
- Certificate of authenticity: means a written statement by an art merchant confirming, approving, or attesting to the authorship of a work of fine art or multiple, which is capable of being used to the advantage or disadvantage of some person. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-62-2
- Counterfeit: means a work of fine art or multiple made, altered, or copied, with or without intent to deceive, in any manner that it appears or is claimed to have an authorship that it does not in fact possess. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-62-2
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. Source: OCC
- Work of fine art: means any original work of visual or graphic art of any medium that includes, but is not limited to, the following: painting; drawing; print; photographic print; or sculpture of a limited edition of no more than three hundred (300) copies; provided, that "work of fine art" does not include sequential imagery such as that in motion pictures. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-62-2
- Written instrument: means a written or printed agreement, bill of sale, invoice, certificate of authenticity, catalogue, or any other written or printed note or memorandum or label describing the work of fine art or multiple that is to be sold, exchanged, or cosigned by an art merchant. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-62-2