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Chapman Law Review Article Spotlights Recent Supreme Court Missteps on Sovereign Immunity and Cultural Property, Calls for Congress to Act

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on May 27, 2025 at 10:18 AM

I am proud to announce the publication in the Chapman Law Review of my article: “Turnabout is Foul Play: Sovereign Immunity and Cultural Property Claims,” which you can link to here. The abstract of the article is below.

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Topics: Second Hickenlooper Amendment, Act of State, Nazi-looted art, Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, FSIA, expropriation exception”, 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(3), Genocide Convention, Nazi-confiscated art, F.R.G. v. Philipp, domestic takings, Chapman Law Review, Turnabout is Foul Play, Sovereign Immunity and Cultural Property Claims, Roberts Court, Taline Ratanjee, Greg Mikhanjian, Anna Ross, Amber Odell, Sara Morandi

Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2025 Would Extend Prior Law on Nazi-era Art Claims, Overrule Supreme Court on Sovereign Immunity

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on May 23, 2025 at 12:31 PM

Seven bipartisan sponsors introduced the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2025 on May 22, 2025, as Senate Bill 1884. The bill would extend provisions of the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act (HEAR Act) of 2016 with respect to the statute of limitations on Nazi-era art recovery claims in U.S. courts, and would rebuke the Supreme Court’s disastrous ruling in 2021 that Nazi art loss victims from Germany were not the subject of takings in violation of international law. The bill is an important step in Holocaust-era art claims and should be passed.

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Topics: laches, Act of State, Statute of Limitations, Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act, Richard Blumenthal, HEAR Act, Genocide Convention, Nazi-confiscated art, F.R.G. v. Philipp, Marsha Blackburn, Eric Schmidt, Katie Boyd Britt, domestic takings, Cory Booker, Thomas Tillis, Chapman Law Review, forum non conveniens, John Fetterman

Court of Appeals Upholds Claims to Renowned Guelph Treasure Sold Under Duress to Nazi Agents

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on July 10, 2018 at 12:33 PM

(WASHINGTON-July 10, 2018) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has affirmed the right of the heirs to the so-called Guelph Treasure (known in German as the Welfenschatz) to seek restitution in U.S. courts for the value of the treasured art collection. The appellate court rejected Defendants’ arguments that U.S. courts lack jurisdiction, or that Germany’s treatment of its Jews in the 1930s should be immune from judicial scrutiny.  While the Federal Republic of Germany itself was dismissed as a defendant, the actual possessor and key party in interest (the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, or SPK) must now prove that a 1935 transfer of the collection by a consortium of Jewish art dealers to Hermann Goering’s minions was a legitimate transaction if they are to retain the collection. 

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Topics: Gestapo, Z.M. Hackenbroch, Prussia, Germany, Nazi-looted art, Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, Markus Stoetzel, Mel Urbach, SPK, Hermann Goering, FSIA, NS Raubkunst, Sullivan & Worcester LLP, J.S. Goldschmidt, Adolf Hitler, Nicholas M. O'Donnell, Welfenschatz, I. Rosenbaum, D.C. Circuit, Consortium, Genocide Convention, Reichstag, flight taxes, Baltimore Sun, Luftwaffe

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About the Blog


The Art Law Report provides timely updates and commentary on legal issues in the museum and visual arts communities. It is authored by Nicholas M. O'Donnell, partner in our Art & Museum Law Practice.

The material on this site is for general information only and is not legal advice. No liability is accepted for any loss or damage which may result from reliance on it. Always consult a qualified lawyer about a specific legal problem.

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