Major creditors of the city of Detroit filed a request in the bankruptcy proceeding to hasten the process of evaluating the value of the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts. The motion raises a few questions, but fundamentally it is off-base: in a municipal bankruptcy the creditors are never going to be able to force the sale of DIA's art. It will ultimately be, as it has always been, the decision of the city through its emergency manager Kevyn Orr. Significantly, though, this is the first actual filing in the bankruptcy related to DIA.
Detroit Creditors Press Bankruptcy Court for Action on Sale of Detroit Institute of Arts Collection, Motion Likely Premature and Unfounded
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on November 27, 2013 at 9:11 AM
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Syncora Guarantee Inc., NORD/LB Covered Finance Bank S.A., City of Detroit Retirees, 11 U.S.C. § 904, Syncora Capital Assurance Inc., Dexia Crédit Local, FMS-WM Service, Christie's, valuation, Ambac Assurance Corporation, Appraisal, Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, Bankruptcy, FMS Wertmanagement, DIA, Erste Europäische Pfandbrief-und Kommunalkreditban, Hypothekenbank Frankfurt International S.A., Dexia Holdings, Michigan Council 25 of the American Federation of, AFL-CIO and Sub-Chapter 98, Kevyn Orr, Hypothekenbank Frankfurt AG, Financial Guaranty Insurance Company, Detroit Bankruptcy, National Association
IFAR to Host "Artists Resale Rights in the U.S.: Overdue or Shouldn't Do?"
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on November 11, 2013 at 11:34 AM
The International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR) will host on November 25, 2013 a panel entitled "Artists Resale Rights in the U.S.: Overdue or Shouldn't Do?" As readers here know, the topic of artists' resale royalty rights, or droit de suite, is an area of copyright law about disagreement is strong. Should artists receive a commission of some sort after the first sale? Under all circumstances, or something fewer? California's famous attempt to regulate the practice was struck down last year as unconstitutional.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Artists Rights Society, Resale Royalties, The Honorable Jerrold L. Nadler, Kernochan Center Columbia Law School, droit de suit, Christie's, Theodore H. Feder Ph.D., Philippa S. Loengard Esq., Events, Karyn Temple Claggett Esq., Sandra L. Cobden Esq.
Detroit Emergency Manager Expects DIA Collection to Bring Revenue
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on October 14, 2013 at 8:29 AM
As the controversy around the possible sale of the Detroit Institute of Arts’ collection continues to swirl, Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr has given some of his most pointed comments to date about his expectations.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Diego Rivera, Michigan Attorney General, Judge Rhodes, Christie's, Detroit Institute of Arts, Bankruptcy, Michigan Constitution, Bill Schuette, Kevyn Orr, Detroit Bankruptcy
City of Detroit Hires Christie's to Appraise Detroit Institute of Arts Collection
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on August 5, 2013 at 11:47 AM
In connection with the Detroit bankruptcy, auction house Christie's announced on Monday that it has been hired to "assist and advise on how to realize value for the city while leaving the art in the city's ownership." According to the Christie's press release, the auction house was hired by the City of Detroit itself, which has floated the idea before (and which the museum itself has opposed publicly).
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Christie's, Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, Collections, Museums, Detroit Bankruptcy
Lawsuit Against Sotheby’s for Nazi-tainted Art Sale Dismissed; Why it Was Filed in California at all Remains Unclear
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on July 8, 2013 at 10:46 AM
A federal court in California has dismissed a claim by a buyer against Sotheby’s that alleged that the auction house sold him a work whose title was clouded because Hermann Göring had once owned it. What seemed liked a interesting new theory of liability was dismissed because the buyer had agreed in advance to litigate any disputes from the sale in the United Kingdom. It is somewhat surprising that the buyer even tried.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: provenance, Louis-Michel van Loo, Auctions, Nazi, California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, Christie's, Hermann Goring, Collections, Restitution, section 1750 of the California Civil Code, Allegorical Portrait of a Lady as Diana Wounded by, Sotheby's
Does Jenack Decision Really Require Disclosure of Seller’s Name? Yes, if the Buyer Won't Pay
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on November 6, 2012 at 11:00 AM
The Jenack decision addressed recently at the Art Law Report has been the subject of intense comment and criticism since being widely reported.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Donn Zaretsky, New York General Obligations Law § 5-701, Appellate Division, New York Court of Appeals, Jonathan Olsoff, Jo Laird, Christie's, Statute of Frauds, William J. Jenack, Sotheby's, Art Law Report
California Law Struck Down as Unconstitutional: U.S. District Court Dismisses California Resale Royalty Act Case against Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and eBay
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on May 18, 2012 at 5:08 AM
Consistent with expectations after reports from the court hearing in March, the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles dismissed the case brought by artist Chuck Close and others that alleged violations of the California Resale Royalty Act (the “CRRA”) by Sotheby’s, Christie’s and eBay, and ruled that the CRRA is unconstitutional in its entirety. Similar claims against eBay were also dismissed in a shorter opinion referencing the Sotheby’s and Christie’s decision.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Legislation, Resale Royalties, Chuck Close, Commerce Clause, Christie's, Dormant Commerce Clause, Collections, California Resale Royalty Act, Copyright, Sotheby's, eBay
California Resale Royalty Act Case Against Sotheby's, Christie's, and eBay to Be Dismissed?
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on March 14, 2012 at 5:11 AM
Donn Zaretsky at the Art Law Blog (whose prior commentary on the case gives excellent analysis of the Commerce Clause and other issues) reports that the U.S. District Court issued a tentative ruling at a hearing on Monday to dismiss the California Resale Royalty Act cases against Sotheby's, Christie's and eBay (Chuck Close is one of the plaintiffs). No written order has come down, but we will report and analyze when it does. This is big news; for the moment the case docket indicates only that the hearing took place and that the judge took the matter under advisement.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Legislation, Donn Zaretsky, Resale Royalties, Chuck Close, Christie's, Dormant Commerce Clause, Collections, Sotheby's, eBay
Federal Legislation Proposed for Artists' Resale Royalties
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on December 22, 2011 at 11:08 AM
In place of rumored legislative efforts last summer, legislation has been formally introduced to codify under U.S. federal law droite de suite rights of resale for artists, under certain circumstances.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Legislation, Resale Royalties, droite de suite, Resale Royalty, Jerrold Nadler, Christie's, California Resale Royalty Act, Sotheby's, eBay
Christie’s and Sotheby’s Sued over California Resale Rights
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on October 20, 2011 at 5:56 AM
Christie’s and Sotheby’s were sued this week by several artists (including Chuck Close) as class action plaintiffs, alleging violations of California’s Resale Royalty Act. The Resale Royalty Act is one of the few statutes in the United States recognizing artists’ rights to some of the proceeds of the sale of their works, even after the initial sale, a concept known as droite de suite. As noted by the Art Law Report last month, there have been noises at the federal level about reviving droite de suite as it is used in Europe, but to date little concrete change has materialized. A useful definition of the idea can be found, with some irony, at the Christie’s website.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Legislation, Chuck Close, Christie's, Collections, droit de suite, California Resale Royalty Act, Sotheby's
