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Category Archives: Legislation

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Bi-Partisan Sponsors for Senate Bill 2212 Sign On

By Nicholas O'Donnell on Posted in Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Legislation, Restitution, Senate Bill 2212

Bi-partisan momentum appears to be gathering for Senate Bill 2212, the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act (a bill that would clarify an exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act in respect to the loan of cultural artifacts).  After Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) signed on as a co-sponsor on November 27, 2012, others have followed.  In… Continue Reading

Charles Schumer’s Co-Sponsorship of Senate Bill 2212 Could Signal Movement

By Nicholas O'Donnell on Posted in Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Legislation, Senate Bill 2212

The federal register this week noted the addition on November 27, 2012 of Charles Schumer, New York’s senior Senator, as a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 2212, the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act, the proposed amendment to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act that would exempt from the FSIA the loan of certain cultural objects… Continue Reading

5th Annual Art Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Institute November 16, 2012

By Nicholas O'Donnell on Posted in Events, Legislation, Restitution

I’ll be winging my way to Houston, but otherwise I would be at the New York County Lawyers’ Association’s 5th Annual Art Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Institute event on Friday, November 16, 2012.  Anyone interested should not miss it. The agenda will be as follows: Panel 1:   The Law and Business of Sculpture and… Continue Reading

Auction Consignors’ Names Must be Disclosed in New York: an Art Twist on a Very Old Law

By Nicholas O'Donnell on Posted in Collections, Consignment, Legislation

It is a busy fall for consignment law in New York.  News has been making the rounds this month about a decision by the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, New York’s intermediate appeals court.  The Appellate Division ruled that an auctioneer must disclose the name of any owner who has consigned the work… Continue Reading

Change to New York Art Consignment Statute Adds Protections, Risks

By Nicholas O'Donnell on Posted in Collections, Consignment, Legislation, Trusts

New York has passed an amendment to its Arts & Cultural Affairs law, N.Y. Arts & Cult. Aff. Law §12.01(2012), that is important for artist, galleries, and dealers alike.  It affects the consignment relationship and creates critical new duties—and liabilities, for the dealer on consignment.  Most importantly, it makes using any form of agreement drafted… Continue Reading

The Other Von Saher Shoe Drops: Cassirer v. Kingdom of Spain Dismissed Under Foreign Affairs Preemption

By Nicholas O'Donnell on Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Legislation, Preemption, Restitution, World War II

An emerging new defense to wartime art restitution claims has claimed another case.  Although still confined to one district in California, the trend of dismissing such claims as better suited to resolution through the foreign affairs operations of the federal government simply cannot be ignored; wartime claims already struggling to overcome statutes of limitations could… Continue Reading

Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Amendment Coverage Continues to Miss the Mark: NPR Report Claims Bill Could “Thwart Return of Holocaust Art”

By Nicholas O'Donnell on Posted in Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Immunity from Seizure Act, Legislation, Restitution, Senate Bill 2212, Uncategorized, World War II

Is it time to invoke the Corollary to Godwin’s Law of Nazi Analogies (i.e., as a discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler increases, and once this occurs, that thread is over, and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically the argument ) concerning Senate Bill 2212, the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional… Continue Reading

Despite Criticism of S.B. 2212’s Proposed Amendment to the FSIA, New Law Would Not Enable Stolen Art

By Nicholas O'Donnell on Posted in Collections, Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Immunity from Seizure Act, Legislation, Restitution, World War II

Doreen Carvajal of the New York Times this week addressed Senate Bill 2212, (the “Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act”) this week, a bill approved in March by the House of Representatives. The article gives those most critical of the bill a chance to make their case.  While well-intentioned, that criticism continues to miss… Continue Reading

California Law Struck Down as Unconstitutional: U.S. District Court Dismisses California Resale Royalty Act Case against Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and eBay

By Nicholas O'Donnell on Posted in Collections, Copyright, Intellectual Property, Legislation

Consistent with expectations after reports from the court hearing in March, the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles dismissed the case brought by artist Chuck Close and others that alleged violations of the California Resale Royalty Act (the “CRRA”) by Sotheby’s, Christie’s and eBay, and ruled that the CRRA is unconstitutional in its entirety.  Similar claims… Continue Reading

Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act: House Votes to Amend FSIA to Exclude Artwork Loan as Basis for Jurisdiction

By Nicholas O'Donnell on Posted in Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Legislation, Restitution, Senate Bill 2212, World War II

The House of Representatives approved the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act on March 19, 2012, to remove the display of a work of art in the United States as basis to sue a foreign sovereign here.  The law touches on important distinctions between immunity from suit—when a party cannot be sued at all—from… Continue Reading

California Resale Royalty Act Case Against Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and eBay to Be Dismissed?

By Nicholas O'Donnell on Posted in Collections, Legislation

Donn Zaretsky at the Art Law Blog (whose prior commentary on the case gives excellent analysis of the Commerce Clause and other issues) reports that the U.S. District Court issued a tentative ruling at a hearing on Monday to dismiss the California Resale Royalty Act cases against Sotheby’s, Christie’s and eBay (Chuck Close is one of… Continue Reading

Federal Legislation Proposed for Artists’ Resale Royalties

By Nicholas O'Donnell on Posted in Legislation, Uncategorized

In place of rumored legislative efforts last summer, legislation has been formally introduced to codify under U.S. federal law droite de suite rights of resale for artists, under certain circumstances. Apart from California—whose California Resale Royalty Act has been in the news recently for lawsuits against Christie’s, Sotheby’s and eBay—the United States generally affords artists… Continue Reading

Christie’s and Sotheby’s Sued over California Resale Rights

By Nicholas O'Donnell on Posted in Collections, Intellectual Property, Legislation

Christie’s and Sotheby’s were sued this week by several artists (including Chuck Close) as class action plaintiffs, alleging violations of California’s Resale Royalty Act.  The Resale Royalty Act is one of the few statutes in the United States recognizing artists’ rights to some of the proceeds of the sale of their works, even after the… Continue Reading