Art Collaborators Settle Suit over Ownership of Works

Recently, a settlement was reached in a lawsuit over the intellectual property rights in a body of thousands of works of visual art created by a husband and wife duo. The case delved into complicated questions about the ownership of copyright interests that should be top of mind to all artists who collaborate with others. Here's what you need to know.

Background

In 2017, plaintiff Eric Chan started a lawsuit in federal court in New York seeking a declaration that he is the sole author of the works created over the course of more than 20 years collaborating with his wife and fellow artist, defendant Heather Schatz, in an artistic endeavor that the two called "ChanSchatz." The lawsuit arose after Ms. Schatz filed an action for divorce in state court in Wisconsin in 2015; at issue in that action was the division of the marital property, including the intellectual property rights in the artwork. Because federal questions under the Copyright Act could not be decided in