California Art Preservation Act

The California Art Preservation Act (CAPA) is a 1979 California law that provides legal protection for artists' moral rights[1][2][3] by prohibiting the alteration or destruction of their artwork without their consent.[4] The law has since been amended in part.[5] The law is codified at California Civil Code § 987.[4] The California Art Preservation Act was the first major law to specifically address artists' rights in the United States.[6][7]

Portions of the law may overlap with the provisions of the Visual Artists Rights Act, in which case the California law is preempted by the federal law.[8]

  1. ^ Chan, Debora Ann (1981). "The California Art Preservation Act: A Safe Hamlet for "Moral Rights" In the U.S." U.C. Davis Law Review. 14: 979–82.
  2. ^ Hoffman, Barbara (1980). "The California Art Preservation Act". Art & the Law. 5: 53–55.
  3. ^ See Karlen, Peter H. (1982). "Moral Rights in California" San Diego Law Review. 19: 675-76, 680-84.
  4. ^ a b Cal. Civ. Code § 987.
  5. ^ Cal. Civ. Code § 987 (West 2022).
  6. ^ McDonough, Brian (1980). "The California Art Preservation Act: Statutory Protection of Art Work Against Intentional Alteration of Destruction". University of Cincinnati Law Review. 49: 486.
  7. ^ Strassfeld, Gail Sara (1981). "Artworks and American Law: The California Art Preservation Act". Boston University Law Review. 61: 1201.
  8. ^ See Cort v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co., 311 F.3d 979, 948 n.1 (9th Cir. 2002) (noting that "it appears that CAPA may have been preempted by vARA.")