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JUDGE ORDERS PREJUDGMENT INTEREST AGAINST DEFENDANT WHO WOULDN’T STOP LITIGATING
In 2018, a New York court ruled that two Egon Schiele paintings had been looted by the Nazis and the heirs of the original owner were the rightful owners of the works. The two works in question, Woman in a Black Pinafore (1911) and Woman...
SETTLEMENT ANNOUNCED IN ROBERT INDIANA ESTATE
The parties involved in the lawsuit over the handling of the Robert Indiana estate have agreed to a settlement. You can read about it here.
HOBBY LOBBY SUES OVER STOLEN PAPYRI
Once again, Hobby Lobby and its Museum of the Bible is in the news. This time, Hobby Lobby is suing former Oxford University Dirk Obbink over Obbink’s alleged sale of stolen papyri to the Museum. According to the complaint, Hobby Lobby paid Obbink $7 million US...
APPARENTLY, DISNEY ISN’T SO GOOD ABOUT PAYING ROYALTIES EITHER
A major complaint of authors and musicians is that not only are they not paid royalties that are due on their work, but that it can be almost impossible to find out from their publishing companies exactly what royalties are owed. This is something I’ve run...
NEWARK MUSEUM OF ART UNDER FIRE FOR DEACCESSIONS
Cultural historians have signed an open letter calling into question the Newark Museum of Art’s decision to deaccession 17 paintings by prominent American artists. You can read about the letter...
STUDENT SPEECH AND ART
On Wednesday, April 28, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. The question here is how far can a school go in punishing a student for speech that occurred off-campus? The landmark case regarding a...
STATE DEMANDS LAWYERS FOR ROBERT INDIANA’S ESTATE RETURN EXCESSIVE FEES
The Attorney General’s Office for the State of Maine filed papers with the probate court overseeing the estate of Robert Indiana asking that the court order the attorneys involved in the administration of the estate to return a significant amount of their fees,...
WILDFIRE GUTS UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN’S JAGGER LIBRARY
Wind driven wildfires in Cape Town, South Africa severely damaged the University of Cape Town’s historic Jagger Library on Sunday. The library, over 200 years old, is home to the University’s special collections, which includes rare books, photographs,...
SECOND CIRCUIT SAYS WARHOL’S “PRINCE SERIES” NOT FAIR USE
Last Friday, the Second Circuit ruled that Andy Warhol’s “Prince Series” was not fair use and sent the case back to the lower court to determine infringement damages. The case stems from a lawsuit by photographer Lynn Goldsmith. In 1981, Goldsmith took a photograph...
NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT SEMINAR
My 10 week Nonprofit Management seminar starts a week from today. It's now virtual, so you can attend from anywhere! https://ccce.necc.mass.edu/public/category/programStream.do?method=load&selectedProgramAreaId=1020358&selectedProgramStreamId=1020409
LOST MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
Last Tuesday, the New York Times posted an article about the unknown amount of art and other collections items that are missing from museums. It has garnered a great deal of discussion among “museum Twitter,” with everyone acknowledging that this is a major...
PRESENTATION 3/18: THE COPYRIGHT CONUNDRUM
We are excited be presenting, "The Copyright Conundrum: Understanding the Basics of US Copyright Law," for the Collections Care and Conservation Alliance, on Thursday, March 18th at 2pm. This presentation is geared toward small and medium-sized historic institutions...
HARVARD RETAINS OWNERSHIP OF SLAVERY PHOTOS
Late last week a judge in Massachusetts’ Middlesex County Superior Court dismissed the case against Harvard University over the ownership of a set of daguerreotypes depicting an enslaved father, Renty, and his daughter, Delia. The images were commissioned...
KNOW YOUR COMMISSION AGREEMENT
In 2019, Australian law firm Maurice Blackburn, commissioned a copy of “Fearless Girl” from its artist, Kristen Visbal. The statue was to sit outside their office and was part of the law firm’s campaign for gender equality in the workplace...
TOP 25 ART HEISTS OF ALL TIME
For your reading pleasure: https://www.artnews.com/list/art-news/artists/greatest-art-heists-of-all-time-1234583441/
HOBBY LOBBY NAMES ALLEGED FORMER OWNER OF LOOTED TABLET IN LAWSUIT
Craft retailer Hobby Lobby has amended its complaint against Christie’s to include the alleged prior owner of a cuneiform tablet dating from approximately 1600 BCE and bearing an inscription with a portion of the Epic of Gilgamesh. In May of last year, Hobby Lobby...
DYLAN ESTATE SUED FOR ALLEGED UNPAID ROYALTIES
In December 2020, Bob Dylan sold his entire catalogue of music to Universal Music Publishing for $300 million. Dylan’s musical career spanned over six decades and produced a number of classic songs, many still in demand to this day. But Dylan...
NINTH CIRCUIT SAYS YOU WON’T BOLDLY GO
The Ninth Circuit has completely reversed the lower court ruling of fair use in Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. v. ComicMix LLC copyright infringement claim. The original case involved a mash-up of Star Trek and Dr. Seuss. The Dr. Seuss estate...