Art and cultural property profile

Davina Given

Website link

T. +44 7545 100488
E. davina.given@rpc.co.uk

London

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RPC art & cultural property specialists
While we are not a conventional private client practice, clients instruct us because of our expertise in high profile art-related disputes and insurance claims. Our firm is also well-known in the technology and crypto spaces, allowing us to advise those at the cutting edge of the art world. We advise clients on the law surrounding the sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs); assist clients in shoring up defences with regards to unauthorised digital content; and help them to negotiate licence agreements to secure multi-format distribution rights (including for on-demand streaming services). We continue to be part of the Arts Council's legal panel (joint with UK Sport and Sport England).

Our clients are auction houses, collectors/copyright owners, dealers, high net worth individuals, insurers and foundations that we advise on many aspects of this area of law: specifically, those arising out of sales of art, auction houses' business, dealers' activities, copyright issues, tax disputes, title, investigations, subrogated insurance claims and art theft.

While RPC is best known for disputes work, our art-related work extends to non-contentious issues too; for example, advising clients on regulatory matters, sanctions issues and VAT and Customs and Excise matters, a crucial element of the international art market.

Selected experience

• Assisting an art gallery client in preventing the production and sale of infringing artwork by another local artist
• Advising a high net worth client on a loan to fund the acquisition of artwork, plus related contractual arrangements and security, with a view to establishing the provenance and reputation of the artwork ahead of a potential acquisition
• Advising on a subrogated recovery for a major London insurer following damage to a large sculpture by a renowned artist
• Acting for a well-known auction house in relation to proceedings arising from an ownership dispute between two parties regarding two paintings brought into the auction house to be sold by one of the parties claiming ownership in the works

Davina Given, Partner and leads RPC's Arts & cultural property law practice
Ranked in Band 1 in Chambers UK for Art & Cultural Property, clients described her as having "a good understanding of how the art market operates and a surprisingly strong understanding of art history and the scholarship issues relating to the artwork in question".

Her practice encompasses disputes on provenance, attribution and authenticity, ownership, the duties of auctioneers, agents and advisers, as well as criminal issues arising in the art market, such as money laundering and illegal export. She frequently acts for art dealers and auction houses.

Davina is an officer of the International Bar Association's Art, Cultural Institutions and Heritage Law Committee and Membership Secretary of the Art Lawyers Association. She is also a member of the Responsible Art Market London Committee; Professional Advisers to the International Art Market (PAIAM).

Website link
+44 7545 100488
E. davina.given@rpc.co.uk