Amy Adler
- Emily Kempin Professor of Law
- amy.adler@nyu.edu
- Vanderbilt Hall 319 • 212.998.6645
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Assistant:
Gail Thomas gail.thomas@nyu.edu
212.998.6685
AREAS OF RESEARCH
Art Law, Free Speech Law, Copyright Law, Intellectual Property Law, Feminist Jurisprudence
Amy Adler, the Emily Kempin Professor of Law at NYU School of Law, is one of the leading scholars of Art Law in the US. She teaches Art Law, First Amendment Law, and Feminist Jurisprudence at NYU Law, and lectures about these topics to a wide range of audiences in both art and law. Adler’s scholarship focuses on the persistent conflict between legal rules and cultural and artistic expression, addressing topics such as fair use, moral rights, online norms, authenticity, and the art market. Her recent scholarship focuses on the role of copying—and copyright law—in contemporary culture. Another series of recent articles explores the relationship between art and free speech.
Adler graduated from the Yale Law School, where she was a senior editor of the Yale Law Journal. She graduated summa cum laude from Yale University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and where she received the Marshall Allison Prize in the arts and letters. Adler clerked for Judge John M. Walker Jr. of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Artificial Authenticity
Courses
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Art Law
In this interdisciplinary course we explore systematically how the law shapes and constrains visual expression. The focus for the most significant portion of the semester is on the censorship of art. Ultimately, by concentrating on the special problems presented by visual images, we probe more deeply into the meaning of "speech" for purposes of the first amendment. The next part of the class examines copyrights, moral rights, and the right of publicity. The final portion of the class addresses legal issues that arise in the art market, including stolen art, forgeries and authentication. The class frequently considers contemporary art controversies as a means of examining these broader issues. The pass/fail option is not available for this class. Constitutional Law is a strongly recommended co-requisite.
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Free Speech
This course will explore the law and theory of free speech. We will focus on the major First Amendment free speech cases. We will also consider material from other disciplines, primarily the arts and humanities, to explore problems of language and interpretation that have particular relevance for understanding the concept of speech in First Amendment law and theory.
Publications
- "Arousal by Algorithm," 109 Cornell L. Rev. 787 (2024)
- "Editors’ Introduction: Art Beyond Copyright," Grey Room, no.94, Winter 2024, at 6 (with Noam M. Elcott)
- "Artificial Authenticity," 98 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 706 (2023)
- "Memes on Memes and the New Creativity," 97 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 453 (2022) (with Jeanne C. Fromer)
- "Why Art Does Not Need Copyright," 86 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 313 (2018)
Education
- J.D., Yale Law School
- B.A. (English), Yale University, summa cum laude
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