Minnesota Session Laws - 1984, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1984 

                        CHAPTER 450-H.F.No. 585 
           An act relating to commerce; art; regulating the sale 
          of fine prints; providing sales and advertising 
          disclosures; prescribing penalties; defining terms; 
          proposing new law coded as Minnesota Statutes, chapter 
          324. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  [324.06] [DEFINITIONS.] 
    As used in sections 1 to 5:  
    (1) "artist" means the person who conceived or created the 
master image for, or which served as model for, the print;  
    (2) "catalog" means an advertising medium published by a 
single individual or firm which solicits consumers to order fine 
prints through the mail or by telephone.  Magazines, circulars, 
and newspapers are not considered catalogs;  
    (3) "edition" means the number of fine prints made from the 
plate or negative during a single run;  
    (4) "fine print" or "print" means the product created by an 
artist by a process commonly used in graphic or photographic 
arts, including, but not limited to, engraving, etching, 
woodcutting, lithography, serigraphy, or photography;  
    (5) "impression" means the printed image on suitable 
material, whether paper or any other substance, made off the 
plate or negative by printing, stamping, casting, developing, or 
any other process commonly used in the graphic or photographic 
arts;  
    (6) "plate" includes any plate, stone, block, or other 
material created by the artist, used for the purpose of creating 
the print from which the impression or impressions were taken;  
    (7) "negative" includes any negative, photographic plate, 
slide, or other material created by the artist and used for the 
purpose of creating the print from which the impression or 
impressions were taken;  
    (8) "reproduction" means a copy of an original or a copy of 
a print made by a commercial mechanical process; and 
    (9) "signed fine print" means a fine print autographed by 
the artist, irrespective of whether it was signed or unsigned in 
the plate or negative.  
    Sec. 2.  [324.07] [EXCEPTIONS.] 
    Sections 1 to 5 do not apply to:  
    (1) prints which are printed prior to the effective date of 
sections 1 to 5; or 
    (2) prints which are not offered for sale by means of a 
catalog and which are not alleged to be numbered or limited 
editions and signed by the artist; or clearly and conspicuously 
described as reproductions; and 
     (3) prints which are sold or offered at a price less than 
$250.  
    Sec. 3.  [324.08] [ACTS PROHIBITED; DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [ADVERTISING DISCLOSURES.] No catalog 
offering fine prints for sale in this state shall be knowingly 
published or distributed, or both, unless it clearly and 
conspicuously discloses the relevant informational detail as 
required by section 4 concerning each edition of the prints so 
offered or states that the relevant information is available on 
request.  
    Subd. 2.  [ADVERTISING DISCLAIMER.] If the person offering 
fine prints by means of a catalog disclaims knowledge as to any 
relevant detail referred to in section 4, that person shall so 
state the information is unknown or not available.  Describing 
the edition as an edition of "reproductions" eliminates the need 
to furnish further informational details unless the edition was 
allegedly published in a numbered, or limited edition, and 
signed by the artist, in which case all of the informational 
details are required to be furnished.  
    Subd. 3.  [SALES DISCLOSURES.] No fine print may be 
knowingly sold in this state by any person unless a written 
invoice or receipt for the purchase price or a certificate 
furnished to the purchaser clearly and conspicuously discloses 
all of the relevant informational details required under section 
4; or the seller states or clearly and conspicuously posts that 
the relevant information is available on request.  
    Subd. 4.  [SALES DISCLAIMER.] If the seller disclaims 
knowledge as to any relevant detail referred to in section 4, he 
or she shall so state the information is unknown or not 
available.  Describing the print as a "reproduction" eliminates 
the need to furnish information details unless it was allegedly 
published in a numbered, or limited edition, and signed by the 
artist, in which case all of the informational details are 
required to be furnished.  
    Sec. 4.  [324.09] [INFORMATIONAL DETAIL.] 
    The following informational detail is required under 
section 3:  
    (1) the name of the artist and the year when the fine print 
was printed;  
    (2) the authorized maximum number of artist's, publisher's, 
printer's, or other proofs, if any, outside of the regular 
edition and the total size of the edition;  
    (3) whether the plate or negative has been destroyed, 
altered, or defaced, after the latest edition;  
    (4) if there were any prior fine prints of the same 
impression, utilizing a different process, paper, media, or 
color, the total number of the fine prints and designation of 
the fine prints;  
    (5) if there were any prior or later editions from the same 
plate or negative.  
    Sec. 5.  [324.10] [LIABILITY.] 
    (a) Any person who sells a fine print and who fails to 
disclose the information required by section 4 is liable to the 
purchaser thereof in an amount equal to the purchase price of 
the fine print, including any sales tax paid.  
    (b) In addition to the liability imposed by paragraph (a), 
a person who sells a fine print and who wilfully provides false 
information required by section 4 is liable to the purchaser in 
the amount of $1,000 or in an amount equal to three times the 
purchase price of the fine print, whichever is greater.  
    (c) No action can be maintained to enforce any liability 
under this section unless the person who is injured by the 
failure to disclose returns the fine print in original condition 
to the person violating the provisions of paragraph (a) or (b) 
and the action is brought within one year after discovery of the 
violation upon which it is based and in no event more than three 
years after the fine print was sold. 
    Approved April 23, 1984