Art Glass, Blown Glass, Dale Chihuly lawsuit

SeattlePI.com: This time, litigation between Chihuly and Rubino really is over

Famed glass artist Dale Chihuly finally settled a lawsuit against Bryan Rubino, a former employee and member of his glass blowing team. After months of heated debate and criticism for both sides it is nice to see this finally come to an end. Although it has been interesting for me to follow this suit (and provided great discussion and blog material) I think that neither artist would really benefit in the end. However, had the suit actually gone to court, it would have provided an interesting study of our copyright laws.

By Regina Hackett, P-I Art Critic

"The terms of the settlement are not disclosed, and the parties have agreed to keep them confidential," Wakefield wrote.

The suits were dropped after a busy week for Chihuly. He presided over a series of hot shop performances at the Museum of Glass to wind up a "Chihuly in Tacoma" celebration. And he was criticized in a series of articles in The Seattle Times.

This time, everybody agrees it's game over for the Chihuly/Rubino litigation.

Chihuly, 64, does not regret his self-promoting, Barnum & Bailey approach to art, his assembly-line production, his think-big aesthetic. He does regret his foray into court against Rubino.

"Never should have done it," he said.

He's not saying the same about his suit against Robert Kaindl, the person who asked Rubino to blow the glass that Chihuly found objectionably like his own. The suit against Kaindl remains unresolved, as does Kaindl's countersuit against Chihuly. Chihuly's suits against a handful of galleries that showed the work were quietly dropped months ago.