Eye to Eye

[Pioneer]

My new book of Vivian Maier photographs, Eye to Eye, arrived today and based on the news in the NY Times of the lawsuit filed by her distant relatives this may be the last one that arrives for awhile.

Haven't had an opportunity to go through it for the first time yet but I'll get to it. I'm a bit sad since it would appear that everything is currently frozen by the lawsuit so nothing material will happen until things are finalized, probably years and years from now.

 

[kbg32]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/06/arts/design/a-legal-battle-over-vivian-maiers-work.html?_r=0

 

[Pioneer]

Thanks Keith. I neglected the link.

 

[NY_Dan]

"The state public administrator’s office for Cook County, in Chicago, which is charged with overseeing estates until relatives or others are approved by the courts to do so, created an estate for Maier on July 1 and has sent letters to Mr. Maloof and others who sell her work — prints can cost more than $2,000 apiece — warning them of possible lawsuits over Maier’s assets."

My take away is that this is just a notice and has ZERO enforceability. They just want parties to keep records -- and even that is nothing more than a request. Perhaps Maloof and other parties should consider moving to a different state or country -- if for no other reason than making it more difficult and expensive for Deal and Co. My opinion is that if not for the tireless efforts of Maloof and others to develop their assets -- aka VM stuff -- if would be worth what was paid at auction. The heirs want something -- give them the price of the storage lockers $250.

Here's my analogy, a person buys a piece of cheap land, spends 5 years building and paying for a magnificent house on that land, then along comes someone to dispute the validity of the land's provenance and wants not only the land, but the house and labor that went into it.

So there, and anyone that disagrees with me is bonkers! 🙂

I'll recap -- Nothing is frozen!

 

[Addy101]

Dan, you're the reincarnation of John Locke 😉

These guys sound like they're trying to benefit from the popularity of Vivian Maier and I'm wondering how much David C. Deal is getting out of this.

 

[Pioneer]

But Mr. Deal feels very badly that he...err...the heirs are not receiving their "fair" share from Ms. Maier's estate. It is obvious that he is trying to right a wrong. 🙂

Thank goodness we have lawyers to ensure that the profits from hard work are equitably distributed.

 

[Pioneer]

Another article. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-vivian-maier-photos-court-met-20140908-story.html#page=1