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.
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
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Topics: Legislation, Resale Royalties, Chuck Close, Commerce Clause, Christie's, Dormant Commerce Clause, Collections, California Resale Royalty Act, Copyright, Sotheby's, eBay
Commentary Takes Shape on S.B. 2212, the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on April 11, 2012 at 12:47 PM
It’s been a few weeks since the House passed the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act (H.R. 4086) and sent it on to the Senate for consideration as S.B. 2212. It has bipartisan sponsorship there (Dianne Feinstein and Orrin Hatch), but no word yet on when it will be put to a vote.
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Topics: Girolamo Romano, Dianne Feinstein, Nazi-looted art, Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1603, 22 U.S.C. § 2459, Christ Carrying the Cross Dragged by a Rogue, Hermann Goring, Collections, FSIA, Restitution, 19 U.S.C. § 1595a, Schneerson library, Orrin Hatch, Senate Bill 2212, World War II, IFSA, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Portrait of Wally, Immunity from Seizure Act, Customs, Chabad, Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity
Poster Collection Seized by Nazis Ordered Returned by German High Court
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on March 16, 2012 at 6:07 AM
Catherine Hickley of Bloomberg reports today from Berlin about a court-ordered return of more than 4,000 once owned by Hans Sachs, a Jewish dentist chased out of Nazi Germany. The Bundesgerichtshof (BGH) is Germany’s highest civil court, and handed down the decision.
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Topics: Berlin, Lucian Bernhard, Catherine Hickley, Hans Sachs, Bloomberg, Sachsenhausen, Bundesgerichtshof, Ludwig Hohlwein, Deutches Historisches Museum, Collections, Restitution, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, World War II, BGH, Kristallnacht
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.
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Topics: Legislation, Donn Zaretsky, Resale Royalties, Chuck Close, Christie's, Dormant Commerce Clause, Collections, Sotheby's, eBay
Sullivan & Worcester LLP joins with Citi Private Bank to Explore Art and Estate Planning
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on March 12, 2012 at 10:21 AM
I am delighted to announce a joint presentation by Sullivan & Worcester LLP’s Art and Museum Law Group (home of your Art Law Report) and Citi Private Bank. On April 11, 2012 here in Boston we will host a discussion of Art Advisory and Estate Planning. Panelists will include Cornelius J. Murray, III, Trust & Estates Practice Chair, Sullivan & Worcester LLP; Suzanne Gyorgy, Head of Art Advisory & Finance, Citi Private Bank; and Brian Bandler, Director, Wealth Planner, Citi Private Bank. The panelists will address the complex art needs of private clients, including the rules that organizations and donors must understand in order to maximize tax benefits and avoid unintended pitfalls. I will be there to moderate what I expect will be a fascinating discussion.
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Topics: III, Collections, Sullivan & Worcester LLP, Suzanne Gyorgy, Estate Planning, Art Law Report
Russian Art Embargo News: Chabad Negotiations Over Russian Library Fail, Renewed Request for Contempt Sought
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on March 7, 2012 at 4:38 AM
After months of inactivity and intimations of a possible settlement, the Chabad plaintiffs seeking the return of the Schneerson library have had enough, and have renewed their request to the District Court to sanction the defendants who have not complied with prior orders to return the library.
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Topics: Russian art embargo, sanctions, Collections, FSIA, Restitution, World War II, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Chabad
Ruminations on Connoisseurship, Forgery, Knoedler and Litigation in the News
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on December 9, 2011 at 5:02 AM
We’ve been following a number of prominent stories for several weeks now and thinking about what they mean in the crossover between art and the law. It’s fair to say that a theme is starting to develop, namely, that after the Beltracchi forgery trial in Cologne, the Warhol Foundation’s decision to close its doors to authentication requests, and the brewing scandal over the authenticity of paintings sold by Knoedler and other galleries, the legal significance of knowing—and even asking—the age-old question from Art History 101—“who made that?”—has come again to the fore.
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Topics: Cologne, Forgery, Knoedler, The Art Newspaper, Inc., Degas, Jackson Pollock, catalogue raisonné, Wolfgang Beltracchi, Collections, The Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Georgina Adam, The Art Law Blog, connoisseurship
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.
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Topics: Legislation, Chuck Close, Christie's, Collections, droit de suite, California Resale Royalty Act, Sotheby's
Barnes Foundation Case Dismissed, Relocation to Philadelphia Will Proceed
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on October 7, 2011 at 5:50 AM
To paraphrase the famous Saturday Night Live skit about General Francisco Franco: this just in: Museum members and supporters still cannot go to court to challenge the administration of the institution. The Barnes Foundation has defeated the latest challenge to its right to move from its original home in Lower Merion outside of Philadelphia to its new home in the center of the city. The relocation will go forward.
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Topics: Rose Art Museum, Philadelphia, Saturday Night Live, Cy Pres, Collections, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Trusts, Barnes Foundation
The Art Law Report at Ellis Boston Antiques
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on October 6, 2011 at 8:23 AM
During the upcoming Ellis Boston Antiques Show, I will be on a panel on Friday night, October 21, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. entitled “Essentials for the New Collector” about collecting antiques and fine art in today’s market. I will be joined by PBS “Antiques Roadshow” appraiser Colleene Fesko and John Fiske, Editor of New England Antiques Journal. The panel is presented by ARIS Title Insurance Corporation.
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Topics: Collections, Nicholas O'Donnell, Customs, connoisseurship, Art Law Report
