DACS, the Design & Artists Copyright Society, has appointed new trustees TIPHAINE DES DÉSERTS, JEN HOLDSWORTH, LIRA MENDONCA and MIKE MULLER to its board.
DACS chair MARGARET HEFFERNAN said the appointees bring “tremendous experience and expertise” in strategy, technology, law, and the art market, at a time when burgeoning technologies are an increasing concern for artists and their intellectual property (IP).
Holdsworth is a strategic leader with over 18 years of experience working with the artist Banksy. She serves as the director of Pest Control Office LTD, which verifies the elusive artist’s work and also consults as a creative director for several high-profile clients and institutions.
A lawyer with over a decade of private practice in Business and IP Law, des Déserts currently works in-house at Getty Images, and has previously served as a lecturer on IP law at Mackenzie University in São Paulo, Brazil.
Mendonça is managing director at Alamy, a global visual content platform, while Muller was chief technology officer and founder of ARM and is currently a trustee of the David Parr House, as well as a trustee and supporter of the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge.
Heffernan said all four were “united by a deep commitment to supporting artists”.
“Their knowledge and perspectives will be invaluable as we continue to defend the economic and social value produced by artists, maximising their royalties, defending their rights at a time when these are under attack and ensuring creators are recognised, respected, and fairly rewarded,” she added.
