Simon Oldfield

Simon combines legal and art world experience to advise on commercial matters, including sale and purchase agreements, artist representation, IP, settlement agreements, resale royalties, and contractual resale restrictions.

• Advised a prominent gallery on the high-value sale of a significant Old Master painting to a major museum, including back-to-back contractual arrangements, provenance and condition diligence, payment structuring, IP, publicity, confidentiality, and cross-border export and regulatory matters.
• Advised a leading gallery on the structuring and documentation of the high-value private sale of an important Old Master painting, including back-to-back contracts, attribution issues, provenance and condition diligence, payment and debt provisions, rights of first refusal, future economic participation provisions, confidentiality, and cross-border export issues.
• Advised the board of a leading global commercial art gallery on a range of art-tech issues including acceptance of cryptocurrency as payment and the use of blockchain, blockchain-based certificates of authenticity, NFTs, smart contracts and IP matters relating to digital assets and art.
• Assisted with the recovery of a blockchain-based domain name for a prominent commercial art gallery working alongside lawyers in the USA.
• Devised an IP protection strategy for a new blockchain-based business founded by a leading international art fair.

Simon provides legal advice to the art world, with expertise in sale and purchase agreements, exhibition lending agreements, and coordinating specialist lawyers across insurance, tax, trusts, and estates matters.

• Advised a prominent UHNW art collector on multiple purchases and disposals of artworks including paintings and sculpture, often with multi-jurisdictional elements including the UK, USA and EU.
• Advised on the settlement agreement alongside international dispute resolution attorneys on a complex matter involving damage to a high-value artwork.
• Advised a HNW individual on the ownership structure of their art collection alongside lawyers in various jurisdictions specialising in tax, property, trusts and estates.
• Advised a celebrated film director on the acquisition of an artwork which had inspired their blockbuster movie.
• Negotiated museum loans and associated agreements on behalf of prominent art collectors, HNW and UHNW individuals.
• Advised an UHNW digital art collector on the purchase of NFTs and the associated digital artworks.
• Provided advice to an UHNW on the creation of DAOs.

Simon offers legal and artworld advisory services, focusing on public commission agreements, copyright, exhibition agreements, gallery representation, and sponsorship arrangements across a range of creative and commercial projects.

• Advised a prominent artist on a complex UKRI-funded public research collaboration following an intervention under UK subsidy-control rules, including restructuring ownership and licensing of project outputs and know-how, protecting background IP, and addressing publication, attribution, and third-party exploitation.
• Advised a highly regarded UK sculptor on the commission and sale of a large-scale bronze sculpture for installation in India, including commission and fabrication arrangements, payment and acceptance mechanics, IP rights, risk allocation, and export considerations.
• Advised a high-profile artist on the contract for a public sculpture commission at a new development in Oxford.
• Assisted a high-profile American artist on implementing a copyright agreement with studio assistants for artworks produced using technology and incorporating digital assets, and negotiated associated settlement agreements.
• Advised a group of leading contemporary artists on their participation in a DAO created to own and facilitate the trade of new digital artworks by the artists.
• Advised a leading international artist on the IP licensing arrangements in respect of new artworks created for a metaverse and associated video game, through which the artist’s digital art could be acquired.
• Advised a top-selling artist on the creation of digital twins of his most famous paintings.
• Advised a distinguished digital Swiss artist on the viability of selling their art with associated NFTs and other matters.
• Advised artist studios working with AI on IP ownership and other matters.

Simon advises on emerging technologies affecting the creative industries, including AI, blockchain, smart contracts, and fractional ownership.

• Advised on the contractual structuring of an ambitious art-tech museum exhibition project involving the production and international touring of a high-fidelity facsimile installation, including IP rights and permissions, governance, profit-sharing, and risk allocation.
• Advised a new art-tech platform backed by major artworld institutions on various matters pre- and post-launch and co-ordinated multi-jurisdictional legal advice in connection with the development of innovative blockchain products and services for the art world.
• Advised an online art sales platform on its UK and EU launch followed by expansion into the US and Asia and assisted with re-drafting the general terms and conditions co-ordinating input from lawyers in several jurisdictions.
• Advised an online platform for the sale of art and luxury goods, and led a team of international lawyers advising on the legal structure necessary to effect the transfer of ownership of a physical asset in tandem with an associated blockchain token.
• Advised a new digital platform seeking to democratise ownership of art and fundraise for museums through tokenisation and fractional ownership of major artworks held by national museums.
• Advised an art-tech platform on statutory and contractual artist resale rights in the context of blockchain-based art transactions.
• Advised an art-tech platform and their clients on the copyright position in respect of artworks created by AI.
• Advised the board of a prominent art-tech business on a complex IP matter focused on a potential patent infringement in the USA, EU and other jurisdictions to negotiate a commercial licence and settlement agreement, saving the client multiple millions of dollars.

Simon advises on goods and services agreements, terms and conditions, trading agreements, and media and entertainment contracts, including marketing, market research, licensing, partnership, sponsorship, and publishing agreements.

• Retained by a leading global art gallery to advise on a broad range of commercial matters including artist representation agreements, IP contracts, settlement agreements, terms and conditions, contractual resale restrictions and resale royalties.
• Advised a new art advisory business on terms of business.
• Advised a world-renowned American artist on a range of contracts relating to museum exhibitions, gallery representation, IP and public commissions.
• Assisted the studio of a prominent British artist on a major public art commission involving multiple agreements throughout the process from concept to construction.
• Advised the estate of a leading 20^th century artist on the posthumous release and sale of editioned artworks in physical and digital form in collaboration with a European museum.
• Advised the estate of a major American artist on the sale of digital versions of the artist’s world-renowned sculptures.
• Advised a chart-topping British podcaster on various contracts pertaining to production and distribution, ad-revenue share, IP and sponsorship.
• Advised on a complex suite of agreements for the publication of an anthology comprising original fiction and artworks by multiple writers and artists.
• Negotiated the licensing agreement between an IP owner and the world-leading audiobook company.
• Negotiated multiple agreements for the provision of marketing and market research between an international agency and various Hollywood studios.
• Represented a London-based agency in contract negotiations relating to partnerships between leading consumer brands and various film and TV studios.

Member of the Art Lawyers Association

Member of the Philanthropy Board of Art UK

Recognised by The Legal 500 for Art & Cultural Property 2026

• Deloitte’s Art & Finance Conference at the Vatican
• Kunsthalle Zurich
• Talk Art podcast
• Art Basel
• London School of Economics

Provided evidence for a House of Lords cross-party Parliamentary enquiry into the impact of technology on the creative industries