Senate Bill 2212, previously passed by the House of Representatives, seemed to be gathering steam as 2012 came to a close. In November and December bipartisan sponsors were signing on, with no publicly-known opposition as it waited for a Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing.
Senate Bill 2212, the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act, Unexpectedly Dies in Committee
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on January 9, 2013 at 6:33 AM
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Topics: House Resolution 4086, 113th Congress, Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 112th Congress, Restitution, Senate Bill 2212, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Immunity from Seizure Act, Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity
The Art Law Report to Present Paper in Maastricht, the Netherlands
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on December 13, 2012 at 4:09 AM
I will be in Maastricht, the Netherlands, on March 24-25, 2013 at the Art and Heritage Law Conference to present my forthcoming paper to be published in the Special Issue of Transnational Dispute Management, “Art and Heritage Disputes.” The paper (and my presentation) will re-assess the effectiveness of American litigation in the last 15 years seeking restitution of art stolen during World War II.
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Topics: Maastricht, Restitution, Events, the Netherlands, World War II, Transnational Dispute Management, Art and Heritage Disputes
Bi-Partisan Sponsors for Senate Bill 2212 Sign On
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on December 13, 2012 at 3:53 AM
Bi-partisan momentum appears to be gathering for Senate Bill 2212, the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act (a bill that would clarify an exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act in respect to the loan of cultural artifacts). After Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) signed on as a co-sponsor on November 27, 2012, others have followed. In addition to its original co-sponsors Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the bill has since gained the co-sponsorship of John Cornyn (R-TX) on December 3, 2012; Thomas Coburn (R-OK) on December 11, 2012; and Chris Coons (D-DE) on December 12, 2012.
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Topics: Legislation, Dianne Feinstein, Thomas Coburn, Chris Coons, Restitution, Orrin Hatch, Senate Bill 2212, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, S.B. 2212, Charles Schumer, John Cornyn, Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity
Combining the Nazi Theft Exception in Senate Bill 2212 with Immunity from Seizure: Good Policy or Inconsistent Law?
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on November 15, 2012 at 6:46 AM
Opposition to Senate Bill 2212, the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act (a bill the Art Law Report favors in its frequent commentaries) has been renewed recently. Senate Bill 2212 (already passed by the House of Representatives) would remove the mere display of a work of art in the United States as a satisfactory basis to satisfy the commercial activity requirement of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act necessary to sue a foreign sovereign here in the United States.
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Topics: Germany, Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, Plundered Art, 22 U.S.C. § 2459, Restitution, Senate Bill 2212, World War II, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Nikki Georgopulos, Altmann v. Republic of Austria, Immunity from Seizure Act, Nazi theft, Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity, Malevich v. City of Amsterdam, Art Law Report
5th Annual Art Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Institute November 16, 2012
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on November 13, 2012 at 11:48 AM
I'll be winging my way to Houston, but otherwise I would be at the New York County Lawyers' Association's 5th Annual Art Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Institute event on Friday, November 16, 2012. Anyone interested should not miss it.
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Topics: Legislation, Renee Vara, Hon. Delissa Ridgway, William Pearlstein, Alexandra Darraby, Cultural Heritage Partners, Hon. Barbara Jaffe, Michael McCullough, Ann Lydecker, Hon. Nicholas Garaufis, Hon. Sherry Klein Heitler, John Cahill, Hon. Kristin Booth Glen, Cook Maran & Associates, Mitchell Silberg & Knupp LLP, Golenbock Eiseman Assor Bell & Peskoe LLP, Chris Robinson, Ralph Lerner, Christine Lepera, Hon. Helen Freedman, Helen Allen, Vara Art, Hon Stephen G. Crane, Kirsten Squires, Marion Werkheiser, L. Eden Burgess, Restitution, Events, Grunfeld Desiderio Lebowitz Silverman Klestadt LLP, Herrick Feinstein LLP, The Art Law Firm, PLLC, Raymond J. Dowd, Dunnington Bartholow & Miller LLP, Darlene Fairman, Cirkers Fine Art Storage & Logistics, Maura Kehoe Collins Artiphile, Art Artifact Architecture & Museum Law, Sharon Levin, James McAndrew, Judith Bresler
Hans Sachs Collection Epilogue: Posters to Go on Sale in New York at Guernsey’s
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on November 5, 2012 at 4:02 AM
The Hans Sachs collection that the Bundesgerichtshof in Karlsruhe ordered in March be returned to the Sachs heirs will be put up for auction in New York. The collection had more than 12,000 posters by artist that included Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Ludwig Hohlwein, Lucian Bernhard and Jules Cheret. The Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin, a museum of German history, held for several decades parts of a poster collection was seized from Sachs in 1938. After his arrest and incarceration, Sachs fled the country with his family.
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Topics: Berlin, Lucian Bernhard, Guernsey’s Auctioneers & Brokers, Catherine Hickley, Hans Sachs, Bloomberg, Bundesgerichtshof, Ludwig Hohlwein, Restitution, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Karlsruhe, World War II, Arlan Ettinger, Deutsches Historisches Museum, New York
Restitution Case Against Czech Republic and Museums Dismissed
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on November 2, 2012 at 10:37 AM
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida has dismissed—for a second time—a lawsuit filed there by former attorney Edward Fagan seeking the restitution of various works of art in the National Gallery in Prague and the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague. A novel strategy of bringing the case not by the alleged heirs, but rather by a former lawyer in cooperation with those alleged heirs, was rejected by the court on its own initiative.
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Topics: Czechoslovakia, Restitution, World War II, Czech Republic
Restitution and Repatriation at DePaul University on Monday, October 29, 2012
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on October 26, 2012 at 5:46 AM
Looking forward to Monday's conference in Chicago at DePaul University College of Law, Center for Art, Museum & Cultural Heritage Law, entitled "Restitution and Repatriation: the Return of Cultural Objects." Lynn Nicholas, author of The Rape of Europa is the keynote speaker. If you like what you see at the Art Law Report-or even if you don't-I hope you will introduce yourself. I expect good attendance from some heavy hitters in the field.
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Topics: cultural property, Lynn Nicholas, DePaul University, Restitution, Restitution and Repatriation
Second Circuit Rules Schiele Drawing Not Stolen by Nazis
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on October 24, 2012 at 1:15 PM
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the judgment against David Bakalar concerning ownership of the drawing Seated Woman with Bent Left Leg (Torso). It is a notable decision first and foremost because it affirms the District Court ruling on the merits of whether the drawing was stolen by the Nazis from the Austrian-Jewish collector Fritz Grünbaum—finding that it was not stolen. Such a ruling is a rarity among wartime restitution cases, the overwhelming majority of which continue to founder on statutes of limitations and jurisdictional defenses. Ironically, even though the court ruled that the work was not stolen and that the current owner could not prove good title, the current owner still prevailed. The details are the key to understanding this case, best described in the District Court decision that the Appeals Court affirmed.
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Topics: cultural property, laches, Second Circuit, Galerie St. Etienne, Seated Woman wiht Bent Left Leg (Torso), Galerie Gutekunst, Nazis, Fritz Grünbaum, Restitution, Egon Schiele, World War II, Mathilde Lukacs, David Bakalar, Franz Kieslinger
Happy (early) Birthday to the Art Law Report!
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on September 14, 2012 at 6:18 AM
We launched the Art Law Report one year ago tomorrow. Several dozen posts, thousands of visitors and many more views later, a very special thank you to everyone who has read and followed the blog. The connections made literally all around the world are humbling and enlightening. We continue to strive to provide an interesting selection of legal updates and issues, while offering an opinion and perspective that tries to improve the understanding both of those familiar with legal concepts, and those less so. The continuing developments in copyright, FSIA, immunity from seizure, and other resitution issues in particular are certainly keeping us on our toes, and collections issues like the Barnes case are never too far away either. Your links and comments are appriated, and we will keep linking to all those viewpoints from which we are learning too. Here's to another year of substantive conversation.
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Topics: cultural property, Immunity from Seizure, Collections, FSIA, Restitution, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Copyright, Immunity from Seizure Act, Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity, Art Law Report, Barnes Foundation
