Authenticity and licensing

Taking a page from the Banksy playbook, consider this the Pest Control Office for Alexander Midknight.

If you believe you are communicating with Alexander Midknight on any site other than this one or through any email addresses other than those found here, be assured you are not interacting with the artist.

This process and site are the only means to authenticate an artwork created by Alexander Midknight.

We do this to prevent confusion, fraud, and misattribution.

The Certificate of Authenticity is like a title for a piece of property; you can buy, sell, and insure the work with confidence that it’s legitimate. This site and process are the only means to receive a Certificate of Authenticity for a commercial artwork by Alexander Midknight.

Only original works and limited editions will be certified.

How it works:

1. For each work, email authentications@amidknight.com
2. In the body of the email, include the following owner details:
   • Their full name.
   • Their full address, including zip code.
   • One of their email addresses.
   • Whether you are an Auction House, Dealer, or Gallery submitting the request on behalf of someone else.
   • As much history and details about the artwork as you have available.
   • An image of the artwork.

How much it costs:

• The fee to begin the authentication process is 100 USD.
• You will receive a refund should it not be a commercial work by Alexander Midknight.

The artwork needs to have a Certificate of Authenticity. If the work doesn’t have a Certificate of Authenticity, the seller should take the steps to acquire one. Further, if the seller doesn’t have one and isn’t willing to obtain one, you should presume the work is not a commercial piece by Alexander Midknight and respond accordingly.

How it works:

1. Before you purchase the work, email authentications@amidknight.com
2. In the body of the email, include the following buyer details:
   • Their full name.
   • Their full address, including zip code.
   • One of their email addresses.
3. In the body of the email, include the following owner details:
   • Their full name.
   • Their full address, including zip code.
   • One of their email addresses.
   • An image of the front and back of The Certificate of Authenticity.
   • An image of the artwork.

How much it costs:

• There is no fee to verify a Certificate of Authenticity. However, it may take up to 8 weeks—most likely less.

I bought a car once. The owner gave me the title and listed themselves as the seller. I needed to register the vehicle with the city and state to get the title in my name.

Every time I buy an electronic device, I’m asked to register myself as the owner with the company that designed or manufactured it.

That’s what we’re doing here. You are registering yourself as the current owner of the work in question.

How it works:

1. After you purchase the work, email authentications@amidknight.com
2. In the body of the email, include the following new owner details:
   • Their full name.
   • Their full address, including zip code.
   • One of their email addresses.
   • An image of the front and back of the current Certificate of Authenticity.
   • How much the piece was purchased for.
   • An image of the artwork.

How much it costs:

• 1 percent of the purchase price or 5 USD, whichever is greater.

(When I bought that car, I needed to pay sales tax on the purchase price. The previous owner told me I could use any number to reduce the taxes owed. I don’t mess with governments regarding the money they believe should be theirs, so I told them the amount I paid. Technically you could do the same thing.)

What you get:

A Certificate of Authenticity listing you as the owner. (We may request you send us the previous Certificate of Authenticity for our records.)

If you own the work and decide to destroy it, we won’t try and stop you. With that said, we’d like to know.

Be sure the party who sold you the piece didn’t include something similar to a buyback provision in their seller’s agreement covering destruction.

Sometimes galleries and previous owners will add a provision when selling works that if the new owner wants to sell the piece, they must contact the gallery or previous owner first to exercise the right to repurchase the piece before the owner sells it to someone else (or destroys it).

Also, ensure you’re not trying to commit insurance fraud. (We don’t condone fraud of any kind.)

How it works:

1. Before you destroy the work (or after it was destroyed by some other means), email authentications@amidknight.com
2. In the body of the email, include the following owner details:
   • Their full name.
   • Their full address, including zip code.
   • One of their email addresses.
   • An image of the front and back of The Certificate of Authenticity (if available).
   • An image of the artwork (if available), preferably before and after it was destroyed in the same setting.

You can use Alexander Midknight’s images for non-commercial, personal amusement. Add them to presentations, share them in chat applications, whatever.

However, neither Alexander Midknight nor 8fold, llc license the artist’s work to third parties. Please do not use the artist’s work for any commercial purpose.