For years now, we’ve been following the legal fallout resulting from a rancorous dispute between Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev and his onetime art dealer, Swiss businessman Yves Bouvier.  The feud has resulted in legal proceedings in multiple countries, and other art world players have become entangled in the fray as well.  In one of those spinoff disputes, Rybolovlev has sued auction house Sotheby’s, alleging that it aided Bouvier’s machinations.  Earlier this month, a federal court rejected a number of those claims, but other claims will proceed to trial unless the parties can reach a settlement in an upcoming mediation.

A Grossman LLP trial team led by Judd Grossman and Webster McBride secured a nearly $8 million securities-fraud judgment in a case arising from a Ponzi scheme involving the resale of tickets to high-profile events such as the Broadway musical "Hamilton."

On February 8, just two days after we published our last post, the jury in the MetaBirkins case reached a verdict, awarding Hermès $133,000 in damages in connection with the fashion house’s claims of trademark infringement, dilution, and cybersquatting. 

Almost two years ago, we shared some thoughts about the NFT market, how it might interact with the traditional art market, and what questions and issues it might raise as it develops.  Now, we are watching with interest as an early wave of NFT-related litigation begins to make its way through the courts.  In this update, we explore some of the legal disputes that are applying established law to this new context, and raising novel questions for courts to decide.

In recent weeks, the families of two different victims of Nazi persecution have filed suit in federal court, each suing a major museum over artwork taken from their ancestors during the Nazi era.  These cases continue to raise complex legal questions about the painful legacy of a brutal regime and its massive displacement of art throughout Europe during the years before, during, and after World War II.

In late 2020, after two-plus years of litigation in multiple jurisdictions and a three-day bench trial in the Southern District of New York, Grossman LLP obtained a win in a title dispute over a painting that was stolen from a major corporate art collection decades ago and replaced with a skilled forgery.  Today, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that victory. 

In the last few years, aided by the rise of non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”), digital art has become an increasingly important part of the art market.  Now a new frontier seems to be opening up: art that is created at least in part using artificial intelligence (“AI”) technology.  Indeed, just as NFTs have crossed into the traditional art market, artists who are creating using AI are likewise being welcomed onto the art scene (for example, by gaining gallery representation).  As this trend unfolds, we art lawyers find ourselves wondering how AI art will interact with our current copyright system. 

Art is increasingly viewed as an investment asset, and in some ways, it behaves like one.  But any investment in art also has to take into account the real risk of physical damage and the legal headaches that can arise out of such damage—as one recent lawsuit reminds us.

Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in the major copyright case of Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith, which could provide a significant opinion about the "fair use" defense to copyright infringement, with wide-ranging potential implications for the art world—especially appropriation art, photography, and copyright licensing and management.  The oral arguments, however, underscore both the magnitude of the questions posed, and the odd aspects of the case’s path to the Supreme Court, which arguably complicate the Court’s ability to grapple with the already-complex issues it presents. 

A recent trial has highlighted some of the unique legal issues posed by cases that seek to apply copyright law to tattoo art.  At the center of the case is a group of tattoos on the back and arms of pro wrestler Randy Orton—tattoos which were then incorporated, without the artist’s permission, into a series of World Wrestling Entertainment video games as part of Orton’s appearance in the game.

Last month, the Grossman team prevailed in defending a prominent art dealer’s complaint against a gallery’s motion to dismiss.

A copyright infringement dispute now pending in a California federal court is raising interesting questions about how copyright applies to tattoo art—as well as some familiar questions about transformative use of photographs. 

In a major win for investors with losses totaling over $5.5 million, Grossman LLP has defeated summary judgment in a securities fraud case arising from “a Ponzi scheme built on a false promise to buy and resell tickets to high-profile events like the Broadway musical ‘Hamilton.’”

Grossman LLP is pleased to announce that Webster D. McBride has joined the Firm as Counsel and Maria Angela Brusco has joined the Firm as an Associate.

An infringement case pending in a California federal court raises some interesting questions about how copyright law applies in the context of interactive art installations—an important topic in an art market that is increasingly exploring these innovative forms and mediums.

In a major win, Grossman LLP has obtained summary judgment for our client in a long-running title dispute involving a Marc Chagall painting that was part of the fraudulent schemes of disgraced art dealer Ezra Chowaiki.

The criminal case involving disgraced art dealer Inigo Philbrick has now progressed to the sentencing phase, where a judge will decide what punishment is appropriate for Philbrick.  In the process, the court will likely consider larger questions about how the justice system should approach sentencing for art crimes, particularly in light of a string of high-profile art fraud prosecutions in recent years.

We wrote recently about the Warhol Foundation’s petition to the Supreme Court, asking the Court to review a case involving claims by photographer Lynn Goldsmith.  Goldsmith sued over Warhol’s use of a photograph in creating a series of artworks, and the Foundation argued that Goldsmith’s claims should fail due to the fair use doctrine, which provides a defense to copyright infringement claims.  A federal district court sided with the Foundation, but the Second Circuit reversed, and in the process issued an opinion that further complicated the already-complex landscape of fair use case law, especially as applied to artists whose creations incorporate, appropriate, reference, or otherwise make use of works by others. 

Famed artist Jeff Koons is no stranger to litigation; indeed, it might be argued that his litigation history is part of his artistic legacy.  We’ve written before about his works, which frequently test the boundaries of copyright infringement and fair use (see here for one example) and his fabrication and sales practices which have also sparked dispute (see here).  Now Koons is back in court as a defendant in a federal lawsuit by sculptor Michael Hayden over his reproduction of a Hayden creations in one of his famous “Made In Heaven” artworks.  The case promises to raise many familiar but difficult questions about the extent to which artists can incorporate other creators’ work into their own.

In late February, Grossman LLP’s Kate Lucas talked to undergraduate students at Duke Kunshan University about her work in art law.