Art law
Artist rejects deal with Icelandic company implicated in Fishrot scandal
The artist Odee rejected a proposal by the fishing conglomerate Samherji that would have required him to pay £1 and hand over control of the website; now the company wants £206,000
Judge rules against artist in case of satiric website critiquing Icelandic company’s alleged role in Fishrot scandal
A judge in London ruled in favour of the seafood multinational Samerji, finding that the artist Odee Fridriksson’s satiric project “crossed the line”
Comment | EU’s new anti-looting law is another blow for legitimate trade
Though laudible in its aim to kerb trafficking of stolen goods, planned rules will impose unreasonable burdens on lawful and genuine trade
US judge allows artist Deborah Roberts's copyright infringement lawsuit against New York gallery to proceed
The lawsuit brought by Roberts in 2022 has received a mixed ruling from Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall, but she denied dealer Richard Beavers's motion to dismiss it
US Supreme Court declines to hear case challenging Smithsonian's restitution of Benin Bronzes
A New York-based organisation had sought to block the artefacts’ return to Nigeria
Artist on trial for website satirising Icelandic company’s alleged role in the Fishrot scandal
Oddur Eysteinn Friðriksson’s spoof of the Samherji Group’s website featured a prominent apology, seemingly acknowledging its alleged role in the Namibian fishing scandal
Despite the real (and artificial) fears of many, AI is not the enemy of the art world
Concerns about access, expertise and data sourcing have overshadowed the enormous power and potential that AI image generators offer
Curator Virginia Brilliant settles her lawsuit against Robilant + Voena gallery and its co-founders
Brilliant, who had sought at least $3m for claims related to her consulting work for the gallery, has withdrawn her complaint as part of the agreement
Has a US law created to safeguard artists’ work backfired?
Critics say that a stalemate over the fate of a piece of Land art in Iowa demonstrates that the terms of the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 are far too narrow
Disgraced adviser Lisa Schiff's art holdings planned for auction at Phillips starting in November
Bankruptcy trustees have proposed selling hundreds of works through the auction house, with hopes to recover up to $2m
New California law could reverse outcome in dispute over Nazi-looted Pissarro
The new law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom is intended to resolve a decades-long restitution claim in a California family’s favour
Holocaust-restitution firm Mondex settles legal feud with heir over fees for $24m Chagall painting
"Over Vitebsk" by Marc Chagall hung at the Museum of Modern Art for decades until 2020, when it was restituted to the the heirs of a Jewish-owned art gallery in 1930s Berlin
The US needs an independent commission for Nazi loot claims
‘If an artwork is located in the US, its fate cannot be decided in any other state, and any wrong decisions cannot be corrected elsewhere’
Chris Levine’s Queen Elizabeth II portraits at centre of multi-million-pound copyright row
Jersey Heritage Trust is suing the light artist over unpaid licensing fees, but the artist says the charity owes him money
Former New Orleans police officer indicted for allegedly orchestrating ill-fated art insurance scam
Christian Claus faces decades in prison for faking an art heist that would have netted a co-conspirator a $128,500 insurance payout
Curator files explosive lawsuit against Robilant + Voena gallery alleging toxic workplace and other violations
Virginia Brilliant accuses the dealers of "repeatedly, regularly and constantly making misogynistic, antisemitic, racist and homophobic comments" and more
Christie's hit with class action lawsuit over exposure of clients' personal data in cyberattack
The complaint, filed on 3 June by a Dallas-based customer, is the latest problem for the auction house following a major cyberattack
Douglas Chrismas, founder of Los Angeles’s Ace Gallery, found guilty of embezzlement
The longtime California art dealer is facing up to 15 years in prison
Private sellers in the UK must beware after High Court ruling
Findings in the Feilding vs Simon C. Dickinson Ltd case set worrisome precedents for British art trade on multiple levels
Women-only art installation is 'discriminatory', Tasmanian court rules
Kirsha Kaechele's Ladies Lounge at the Museum of Old and New Art must admit men within 28 days
The Gray Market: Why contemporary dealers and collectors are monitoring an antitrust lawsuit over Birkin bags
Hermès's alleged sale strategy for the in-demand bags parallels dealers' waiting list policies, but legal experts are sceptical of the lawsuit's merits
Donald Judd’s foundation sues Kim Kardashian for trademark and copyright infringement
The lawsuit centres on minimalist tables and chairs in Kardashian's company's offices
Warhol Foundation to pay photographer $21,000 as dispute over Prince portraits ends
The case had gone all the way to the US Supreme Court, which last spring ruled in favour of the photographer Lynn Goldsmith
Frida Kahlo Corporation files trademark suit against Amazon sellers
The company that owns the anti-capitalist artist's image is embroiled in yet another legal tussle over representation
Jury sides with Sotheby's in New York fraud trial against Rybolovlev
The billionaire had sought at least $190m in damages from Sotheby's related to deals with Yves Bouvier. Instead, he will get nothing
Sotheby's and Rybolovlev’s lawyers paint contrasting pictures of culpability in fraud trial's closing arguments
The jury could return a verdict in the closely-watched lawsuit as soon as 30 January
Head of Saudi Arabia's AlUla cultural development arrested over corruption claims
Amr al-Madani is accused of “abuse of authority and money laundering“, according to local media
The Gray Market: Rybolovlev’s trial against Sotheby’s has become a slog through minutiae—and that’s good for the auction house
The art market ‘trial of the century’ has transitioned from courtroom drama to bureaucratic headache
Transparency, accountability and double standards complicate Rybolovlev's testimony in New York fraud trial
Lawyers for Sotheby's cast the Russian billionaire as a victim of his own making
US court rules Nazi-looted Pissarro painting belongs to Spain
The decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals leaves the heirs of Lilly Cassirer with few options to pursue their restitution claim