Lawsuits

Alaska souvenir store accused of selling artefacts falsely labelled as authentic ‘Native art’

The lawsuit comes amid a crackdown on sales of fake Native American artefacts

MoMA trustee Leon Black settles lawsuit with the US Virgin Islands over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein

He will pay $62.5m to exempt him from legal claims related to Epstein’s sex trafficking

Yet again, a US court dismisses Nazi-era Guelph Treasure art lawsuit

The descendants of the €200m collection's Jewish former owners had appealed a 2022 regional court ruling

California man on trial for allegedly importing Roman mosaic looted during Syrian civil war to US

Mohamad Yassin Alcharihi is accused of misrepresenting the true value of a mosaic that was looted from Syria in 2015

Florida judge squashes copyright infringement lawsuit over Maurizio Cattelan’s banana

The judge dismissed a suit brought by artist Joe Morford claiming he had made the original taped-banana work in 2001

Art advisor Lisa Schiff is cooperating with authorities investigating her business, her lawyer says

The high-profile art advisor is liquidating her firm and can no longer afford the “lavish lifestyle” she was accused of in two lawsuits filed against her by a former client

Art world fraudster Anna Sorokin sued by her lawyer for $150,000 in unpaid fees

Sorokin's former lawyer, who faces charges of financial crimes herself, has accused the notorious scammer with withholding payments

How a lawsuit over a jointly owned Anna Weyant painting is making opaque art market structures more transparent

Governments are increasingly aware of the risks involved with using shell companies and other complex dealings to trade art

US Supreme Court rules against Andy Warhol Foundation in closely watched copyright lawsuit

The case, which pitted the Andy Warhol Foundation against photographer Lynn Goldsmith, may have major repercussions for artists who build upon others’ work

New York adviser Lisa Schiff reportedly shuts business amid clients’ $2m lawsuit

The outspoken adviser appears to have closed her Tribeca gallery and is unreachable amid accusations that she defrauded collectors of profits from the sale of an Adrian Ghenie painting

Judge refuses to toss two copyright infringement lawsuits against Richard Prince

New York judge says the appropriation artist's New Portraits series does not achieve the level of transformation necessary to shield him from litigation

New York collector sues his lawyer for allegedly stealing Warhol canvas

The collector, Stuart Pivar, claims he sold the 1977 portrait of himself to his lawyer for $100,000 because he needed cash quickly; he is now suing that lawyer for $10m

Bored Ape Yacht Club creators score legal victory in lawsuit against artists who made copycat NFT collection

Yuga Labs has won a partial victory in its legal dispute with artists Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen; the decision could impact future copyright copyright rules in Web3

Lawsuit filed to block university's sale of Georgia O’Keeffe painting to fund dormitory renovations

Indiana-based Valparaiso University is reportedly hoping to raise $20m with the sale of works by O’Keeffe, Childe Hassam and Frederic Church from its museum’s collection

First-ever insider trading trial over NFTs set to begin in Manhattan court

A former OpenSea employee has been accused of insider trading; the outcome of the case may change the meaning of that phrase forever

Florida bill would allow civilians to sue over damage to or removal of Confederate monuments

The proposed legislation is seen as an effort to defend Confederate monuments and markers in the public sphere by streamlining civil lawsuits

Appeals court judges hear latest argument in Nazi-era Guelph Treasure restitution claim

Heirs of the dealers who sold the collection of medieval artefacts to the Prussian government claim their case can be heard in US court because the dealers were not German citizens at the time of the sale

Victor Vasarely works seized in Puerto Rico amid longstanding family feud over Op artist’s legacy

More than 100 paintings by the late artist and his son were allegedly taken in the FBI raid

Deal reached in dispute over Van Gogh painting held at Detroit Institute of Arts

While the parties have reached an agreement, the museum says it spent $100,000 on its defence and that the injunction against it sets a dangerous precedent

Hong Kong heiress sues gallery over alleged £500,000 Banksy fraud

Karen Lo says the dealer Pearl Lam never followed through with her purchase of a well-known painting by the secretive British artist

Judge dismisses lawsuit brought by Peter Max’s daughter seeking damages from artist’s caregiver

The renowned Pop artist, who has suffered from Alzheimer’s-induced dementia for the better part of a decade, is at the centre of a years-long legal war

New York court rules against repatriation of ancient artefact to Turkey

A marble idol known as the “Stargazer” will remain in the collection of billionaire Michael Steinhardt

Dismissal of billionaire collector and MoMA trustee Leon Black’s racketeering lawsuit upheld

Black claimed he was the victim of a conspiracy to push him out of his private equity firm

Hermès wins lawsuit against maker of MetaBirkins NFTs

A jury ruled NFT artist Mason Rothschild’s line of digital handbags was subject to trademark law

Defendants seek dismissal of copyright infringement lawsuit brought by collage artist Deborah Roberts

"There is no precedent for copyright protections on an artistic style," says a lawyer for artist Lynthia Edwards and dealer Richard Beavers

Artist’s lawsuit against school that sought to cover up his murals heads to appeals court

A district court sided with the school in late 2021, but artist Sam Kerson hopes an appeals court decision will help keep his Underground Railroad murals on view

Was Van Gogh's olive grove landscape another Nazi-era 'forced sale'?

We uncover the tangled tale of the painting controversially sold off by New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1972 and now in an Athens museum

Detroit Institute of Arts ordered to keep Van Gogh painting as lawsuit over its ownership heads to appeals court

A judge had previously dismissed the lawsuit brought against the Michigan museum in a dispute over the canvas “The Novel Reader”

Jewish collectors’ heirs sue the Guggenheim for return of Blue Period Picasso

The heirs of Karl and Rosi Adler claim “Woman Ironing (La repasseuse)” (1904) was sold under duress by the fleeing couple and are seeking its return—or as much as $200m in compensation