Italy is threatening legal action after the British government refused to return 700 ancient artifacts that were seized from disgraced London art dealer Robin Symes. Maurizio Fiorilli, the Italian state legal counsel overseeing the case, claims that the disputed objects, largely Etruscan sculptures, jewelry, and vases, were excavated illegally and then sold illicitly.

Last year, this blog covered a federal court’s decision involving New York-based ACA Galleries, Inc.’s purchase of a painting purportedly created by artist Milton Avery.  In a recent decision affirming that opinion, the Second Circuit reiterated the warning to galleries and collectors about the importance of completing comprehensive due diligence before purchasing any work of art.

Earlier this week, the New York Court of Appeals (the state’s highest court) issued a much-anticipated decision upholding the auction industry’s longstanding practice of allowing sellers to remain anonymous. Given the importance of auction houses to the art market, and the importance of consignor anonymity to that market, this decision will likely be greeted with relief by many in the art world.

After a long court battle, an ancient Cambodian statue, consigned to Sotheby’s for sale in 2011, will be returned to that country under an agreement signed last week.  The Khmer statue, valued at over $2 million, was pulled from auction because of assertions it had been looted from the Prasat Chen temple site at Koh Ker.

This firm’s attorneys were involved in the very first suit arising out of the infamous forgery scandal against the now-defunct Knoedler Gallery. Since then, this blog has covered ongoing developments in the strange story of a once-venerable art gallery’s involvement in the sale of dozens of paintings masquerading as works by twentieth-century masters like Pollock, Rothko, and de Kooning.  The works were in fact created by a little-known artist working in Queens, and marketed by Long Island art dealer Glafira Rosales, who has since pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges arising out of the scheme.

Last month, the Hopi tribe took Eve auction house to court in an effort to block the sale of 25 sacred artifacts, which the tribe believes are imbued with divine spirits. In spite of this legal—not to mention, moral—challenge, a French court allowed the Paris auction house to proceed with the December 9th sale. The Native American tribe maintains that the objects were stolen and that selling them amounts to sacrilege.

This blog has previously covered the putative class action involving the Google Books Library Project, Google’s ongoing effort to collect and scan millions of books (included copyrighted works) to make them searchable online.  The case of Authors Guild v. Google (No. 05-08136) was initiated in 2005 by authors claiming that Google’s process of scanning, digitizing, indexing, and making publicly available short “snippets” of their books is copyright infringement.

Amid criticism from groups representing Holocaust victims and their heirs and growing international pressure to disclose more information about the cache of art found in the apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, Germany has announced that it will speed provenance research of the artworks, as well as begin to publish online details about the works.

Since 1974, the Dia Art Foundation has worked to support innovative contemporary artists.  Over the years, the Foundation has commissioned groundbreaking works and mounted and maintained installations and exhibitions from New York to New Mexico to Germany. But a rift between some of its original founders and the Dia’s current leadership has led to litigation over the fate of some iconic works in the Foundation’s collection, and debate over the mission and future of the organization itself.

In September 2010, aboard a train from Switzerland, German customs agents were carrying out a routine check when they approached Cornelius Gurlitt.  The man, who seemed nervous, was in possession of 9,000 euros and was not registered with the police—which is mandatory in Germany.  Officials issued a search warrant for his Munich apartment, expecting to find undeclared euros or evidence of questionable bank accounts.

From 1954 until his death in 1976, famed sculptor Alexander Calder was represented by Manhattan dealer Klaus Perls.  Over the course of more than two decades, the pair forged a close friendship as well.  Their contributions to the art world are formidable; Calder’s groundbreaking mobile works sell for millions of dollars, while Perls was a highly respected dealer and collector who donated more than $60 million worth of masterworks to the Metropolitan Museum of Art prior to his death in 2008.  Now, both men are gone, and their families are in court amid allegations that Perls defrauded Calder’s estate and sold dozens of fake Calder works.

On October 16, California-based artist and illustrator Lisa Congdon posted an entry on her blog entitled “My Art Was Stolen For Profit (and How You Can Help).”  In it, she laid out her claim that wholesale company Cody Foster & Co., which sells ornaments and other home-décor items to retailers around the world, had copied some of her artwork to make a set of holiday ornaments, and then marketed the ornaments for sale—without permission by or compensation to Congdon.  This matter highlights critical issues for copyright holders, would-be copyright infringers, and merchants who sell potentially infringing works.

At the center of one of Germany’s largest restitution claims is the Berlin portion of the Guelph Treasure, a trove of ecclesiastical art, largely comprised of gem-encrusted reliquaries and crosses, dating from the 11th through 15th centuries.   The hoard of precious objects was originally housed in the Braunschweig cathedral, and in 1671 it passed into the hands of the princely House of Guelph.

Our attorneys were involved in the very first suit arising out of the infamous forgery scandal against the now-shuttered Knoedler Gallery. And this blog has covered multiple chapters since, detailing along the way the remarkable twists and turns in the dramatic tale of Knoedler’s involvement in the sales of dozens of works purportedly created by some of the top artists of the twentieth century—including Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell, and Willem de Kooning—that have since been revealed as fakes.

The art world remains riveted by the still-unfolding scandal involving the once-renowned Knoedler Gallery.  To recap, over the course of more than a decade, Knoedler solddozens of works of art purportedly created by some of the most sought-after artists of the twentieth century—works that have since been widely discredited as fakes.  A Long Island art dealer named Glafira Rosales—who has now pleaded guilty, among other things, to charges of wire fraud, filing false tax returns and money laundering—allegedly told the Knoedler Gallery at the time that she represented an anonymous collector who was gradually liquidating his late father’s remarkable art collection.

The once-renowned Salander-O’Reilly Galleries imploded around 2007 after a number of customers and business partners sued owner and art dealer Lawrence B. Salander for allegedly defrauding them.  By the end of 2007, Salander had filed for bankruptcy; by 2010, he was serving a prison term for grand larceny.  The legal fallout from his story, however, continues today—as illustrated by a recent court decision. This case reminds those who buy and sell art that diligence is paramount—no matter how trusted the seller, and no matter how savvy the buyer.

James Meyer worked as an assistant to famed contemporary artist Jasper Johns for a quarter of a century.  Meyer, himself an artist, observed Johns at work, learned about his techniques, and witnessed the trajectory of a remarkable artistic career as Johns became one of the most well-known and sought-after artists of our time.  Johns, now 83, was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Obama in 2011, and his works have commanded stratospheric prices (one work, Flag, sold at Christie’s in 2010 for $28.6 million).

In April we discussed the Second Circuit Court of Appeals’ much-anticipated decision in Cariou v. Prince, which explored the “fair use” defense in copyright-infringement cases.  The Cariou decision was of great interest to the art community because of its implications for “appropriation” art, which incorporates or builds off of the copyrighted works of others.  This month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued another important opinion involving the application of the fair use defense in the context of appropriation art.  The case involved the rock band Green Day’s unauthorized use of an image by artist Dereck Seltzer in the band’s video backdrop for its live concerts.  In an opinion authored by Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain, a three-judge panel upheld a summary judgment in favor of Green Day.

In July 2010, the New Yorker published an article about Peter Paul Biro, an art expert who has made a name for himself by using forensic techniques to authenticate artworks.  Mr. Biro, displeased with the magazine’s portrayal of him and his methods, brought claims for libel (i.e., defamation through written statements) against the writer, David Grann, and the magazine’s parent company, Condé Nast.

On July 18, the city of Detroit, Michigan filed for bankruptcy.  Since the mid-1950s, only about 60 municipalities have filed under Chapter 9, the bankruptcy proceeding used by municipalities—and of those, Detroit’s is by far the largest municipal bankruptcy filing (in terms of debt) in American history.  The exact amount the city owes is unclear, but estimates range from $18 billion to $20 billion.  The bankruptcy process will be rife with complex issues, including whether the city is truly eligible for bankruptcy, whether public employees and retirees will need to accept a reduction in their expected employment and retirement benefits, and how best to move Detroit forward in a way that will stimulate growth and long-term stability.