Law

Picasso painting offered in money-laundering scheme, US feds say

London art dealer Matthew Green embroiled in case that involves attempted sale of a painting to an undercover agent to 'clean up' £6.7m, court documents state

Fury over artist’s plan to preserve prototypes of Trump’s border wall

Others, including the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, support Christoph Büchel’s proposal to turn the eight designs into national monuments

Lawnews

Terror victims cannot seize Iranian antiquities, US Supreme Court rules

A 2008 amendment to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act does not open a foreign nation's assets to claimants, the justices unanimously decided

Art businesses ill-prepared for new EU data protection law

Data privacy is getting a long-overdue overhaul with GDPR, but is the art market ready?

Lawnews

Detention extended for Russian performance artist Pyotr Pavlensky who set fire to bank in Paris

The controversial figure has gone on hunger strike in protest at “lack of transparency” over legal process

New York judge awards 5Pointz street artists $6.75m for whitewashed works

The developer’s destruction of their legally protected art was “an act of pure pique and revenge”, the court found

Yves Bouvier faces fresh charges in Switzerland

The Swiss freeport magnate has been charged with fraud after the Russian collector Dmitri Rybolovlev filed a new criminal complaint in Switzerland

Lawnews

Picasso’s Actor will remain in the Met’s collection, New York Judge rules

The court dismissed a claim on the painting by the heir of the Jewish collector who sold it to fund an escape from the Nazis

Lawnews

Paris court hears arguments in Facebook censorship case centering on Courbet’s Origin of the World

The social media giant has argued for dismissal, saying the plaintiff should have sued its European web host

Lawnews

Dealer of works stolen by Jasper Johns's assistant can be charged with racketeering, court rules

The decision adds another wrinkle to the unsettled case law surrounding liability in art fraud

Seller beware: why does the art market fail to learn from its past?

Chowaiki & Co has imploded, but it is just the latest in a long line of art scams

Lawnews

Hobby Lobby surrenders 245 ancient seals to federal authorities

The company still owes more than 1,700 objects as part of a $3m settlement with the US government

From Van Gogh to Richter—what happens when bidders fail to pay up at auction?

Flaky winning bids are knocking the gloss off record-breaking sales

New York court grants permission for Rybolovlev to use confidential documents in UK and Switzerland

Order could pave way for Russian billionaire to launch High Court case against Swiss dealer Yves Bouvier and Sotheby’s

Ethicsnews

Should museums display human remains from other cultures?

Vienna’s Weltmuseum criticised for displaying a trophy head

‘The president stole your land’

Multiple lawsuits launched in the wake of Trump’s decision to shrink national parks in Utah

Should street art be protected? New York’s 5Pointz lawsuit tests the US Visual Artists Rights Act

After a jury decided in favour of the street artists who sued over the destruction of their work, a Brooklyn federal judge is now considering the closely watched case

Lawnews

Jewish Museum severs ties with curator Jens Hoffmann over sexual harassment allegations

While the former Artforum publisher Knight Landesman moves to dismiss a lawsuit filed against him

'Culture of fear' around reporting sexual harassment in UK arts organisations, survey says

Three quarters of known incidents go unchallenged according to Arts Professional study

Lawnews

Supreme Court hears arguments in claim against Iranian antiquities

Victims of a 1997 suicide attack want to seize ancient Persian tablets from a Chicago museum to satisfy a $71m judgment in their favour

Lawnews

Federal authorities want to seize Martin Shkreli’s Picasso and Wu-Tang Clan album

The objects are among $7.3m in assets prosecutors are seeking from the jailed “pharma-bro”, who was convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy

Lawnews

UK museums' right to charge image fees is called into question

Campaign for institutions to free up photographs of out-of-copyright works is backed by legal experts

Lawnews

How Trump’s new tax plan could affect the art world

GOP proposal could result in fewer gifts to museums and less art on the market

Lawnews

Art Basel reaches out of court settlement with Adidas

Sportswear company accepts it infringed trademark with trainers distributed during Art Basel in Miami Beach 2016

Lawnews

Christo and Smithsonian sued for copyright infringement over Running Fence images

Photographer Gianfranco Gorgoni says copies of his pictures of the California land art project were shown and reproduced without his knowledge

Lawnews

Brazilian collector Bernardo Paz, founder of Inhotim art park, receives prison sentence

He denies money laundering charges, saying non-profit organisation is audited and operates independently from his companies

Lawnews

Conservative leaders oppose court order to remove cross from Pope John Paul II sculpture in France

Poland’s prime minister has offered to save the work from censorship and the “dictates of political correctness”

Lawnews

Massachusetts Appeals Court grants injunction to block Berkshire Museum sale

The successful Hail Mary pass came just before deaccessioned works, including two paintings by Norman Rockwell, were due to be auctioned at Sotheby’s on Monday