Just as Marcel Duchamp shocked the art world in 1917 with his absurdist creation of Fountain—a “readymade” sculpture consisting solely of an upside-down urinal with a signature on it—creators of non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) are now pushing the boundaries of the conventional art world by creating works that exist only in the digital sphere.[1] The unique “absurdity” of NFTs breeds desirability, and collectors around the world are jumping at the chance to buy the…
Woman in a Black Pinafore (l) and Woman Hiding Her Face (r)
Following the New York Appellate Division’s affirmance of the New York State Supreme Court’s decision in Reif v. Nagy ordering the turnover of two works of art transferred under duress, if not stolen, following the Nazi takeover of Austria to the heirs of their original Jewish owner, Fritz Grünbaum,[1] the dispute has turned to the increasingly significant issue of pre-judgment interest.
Background…
On January 1, 2021, Congress voted to override President Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,[1] which includes provisions that will have significant implications for the antiquities market, and could eventually impact the art market as well.
The New Legislation Extends Bank Regulations to Dealers of Antiquities
Tacked onto the sprawling National Defense Authorization Act is the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (“AMLA”)[2], which provides measures intended…
On December 16, 2020, Judge Denise L. Cote of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found that London-based auction house Phillips Auctioneers (“Phillips”) properly terminated its agreement governing the auctioning of a Rudolf Stingel painting for force majeure after postponing its spring auctions in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In June 2019, Phillips, one of the world’s leading auction houses, contracted with seller JN Contemporary Art (“JN”) to offer…
On December 15, 2020, Judge Lorna Schofield of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed a Manhattan art gallery’s claims for insurance coverage for losses suffered as a result of the gallery’s suspension of business operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] The decision—one of the first to address an insurance coverage claim under New York law for losses resulting from governmental shutdowns in the midst of the COVID-19…
On December 27, 2020, as part of the omnibus spending and COVID-19 relief bill (the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021), President Trump signed into law the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2020 (the CASE Act of 2020), which establishes a small-claims tribunal within the U.S. Copyright Office to adjudicate infringement cases.
The New “Copyright Claims Board”
The new tribunal, called the “Copyright Claims Board,” will serve as an alternative forum in which parties may voluntarily seek…
Photo: By Ezmosis - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24062983
On November 24, 2020, parties to the 5Pointz litigation filed a Stipulated Settlement Agreement Resolving Plaintiffs’ Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs (the “Agreement”), under which the defendant real estate developers agreed to pay over $2 million in attorneys’ fees and court costs to counsel for the aerosol artists of “5Pointz,” Eisenberg & Baum LLP.
The Agreement is the latest (and likely final) development in the seven-year dispute over destruction of the famed 5Pointz art…
On November 2, 2020, Judge Allyne Ross of the Eastern District of New York dismissed copyright claims brought by Danish photographer Michael Barrett Boesen against a sports website for its use of an Instagram post by former top-ranked tennis star Caroline Wozniacki that itself used a photograph by Boesen.[1] In holding that “embedding” the social media post was “fair use”—and therefore not a copyright infringement—because of its news value, the Court in Boesen v.…
The New York Times reported on Tuesday, November 10, that the Metropolitan Museum of Art elected Candace K. Beinecke as co-chair of its board of trustees, making her the museum’s first female chair. Ms. Beinecke, the senior partner and former chair of Hughes Hubbard & Reed, will jointly lead the board with Hamilton (Tony) E. James starting January 12, 2021. Ms. Beinecke, who was the first woman to lead a major New York law firm…
On October 30, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), which administers and enforces American economic sanctions, issued an advisory titled “Advisory and Guidance on Potential Sanctions Risks Arising from Dealings in High-Value Artwork” (the “Advisory”). OFAC considers “high-value” any artwork valued at over $100,000.[1]
OFAC appears to have issued the Advisory in response to a bipartisan Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs report (the “Senate…