Law & Politics Federal Funding Has Incentivized Institutions to Hold on to—and Even Destroy—Native Remains, a New Report Suggests The report, published by ProPublica, said tribal artifacts are being held in labs instead of being repatriated. By Artnet News, Jul 21, 2023
Law & Politics Two Climate Activists Who Glued Themselves to a Raphael Painting in Germany Have Been Hit With Fines The artwork went unharmed, but the museum that owns it reported about $2,560 in property damage. By Artnet News, Jul 20, 2023
Law & Politics A Judge Green-lit a Virginia Museum’s Plans to Melt Down a Confederate Monument, Dismissing a Lawsuit Attempting to Save It Charlottesville’s Robert E. Lee statue was the site of the deadly “Unite the Right” rallies in 2017. By Taylor Dafoe, Jul 20, 2023
Law & Politics After His Landmark $120 Million Counterfeiting Victory, Artist Michael Moebius Is Now Suing Fast-Fashion Retail Giant Shein Moebius has alleged that Shein used U.S.-based servers to market copyright-infringing clothing globally. By Adam Schrader, Jul 18, 2023
Law & Politics A Group of Artists Is Suing Fast-Fashion Giant Shein, Claiming It Used a ‘Secretive Algorithm’ to Identify and Steal Their Work The lawsuit labels Shein 'a greater societal threat than TikTok.' By Adam Schrader, Jul 13, 2023
Law & Politics The FTC Has Launched an Investigation Into OpenAI, Creator of Image Generator DALL-E, Over Its Data Security Practices The probe is seeking information on 'each large language model product' the company offers. By Adam Schrader, Jul 13, 2023
Law & Politics A Chinese-Language Translator Has Threatened to Sue the British Museum After It Removed Her Work From an Exhibition Yilin Wang has retained lawyers and will sue for copyright infringement unless her work is reinstated, with credit, to the show. By Sarah Cascone, Jul 13, 2023
Law & Politics Aretha Franklin’s Handwritten Will—Found Underneath Her Couch Cushion—Is Valid, a Michigan Jury Declares The decision paves the way for the distribution of the legendary singer's estate, including music royalties. By Adam Schrader, Jul 12, 2023
Law & Politics ‘You’re a Big Imbecile’: Russian Artist Pyotr Pavlensky’s Trial Over a Leaked Video That Brought Down a Politician Concludes With a Tense Spectacle Artnet News attended the Paris trial, in which freedom of artistic expression was weighed against the right to privacy. By Anna Sansom, Jun 30, 2023
Law & Politics A U.S. Judge Permanently Banned Digital Artist Mason Rothschild From Selling His ‘MetaBirkin’ NFTs, Handing a Win to Hermès Back in February, a jury found Rothschild had violated Hermes's trademark rights. By Richard Whiddington, Jun 27, 2023
Law & Politics Douglas Latchford’s Estate Will Pay $12 Million to Settle a Civil Case on the Disgraced Dealer’s Theft of Cambodian Antiquities The daughter of the late dealer will also hand over a 7th-century Vietnamese bronze sculpture. By Brian Boucher, Jun 23, 2023
Law & Politics Beeple Collector Metakovan Is Suing Twobadour, Claiming His Ex-Partner Is Falsely Taking Credit for Buying the $69 Million NFT At one time, Vignesh Sundaresan and Anand Venkateswaran claimed to have bought the NFT together. By Richard Whiddington, Jun 20, 2023
Law & Politics Meow Wolf Wins a Partial Victory in a Copyright Lawsuit Brought by an Artist Who Made Work for Its Santa Fe Flagship The motion brings the knotty lawsuit one step closer to conclusion, though many claims in the case still need to be resolved. By Artnet News, Jun 20, 2023
Law & Politics A Kandinsky Painting Sold During World War II Should Be Returned to the Heirs of Its Jewish Owners, an Advisory Panel Ruled Once owned by a Dutch couple, the painting was auctioned just months after the Nazis occupied the Netherlands. By Taylor Dafoe, Jun 14, 2023
Law & Politics A Judge Ruled Against an Artist Who Claimed Maurizio Cattelan Copied His Duct-Taped Banana, Deciding the Two Works Are Apples and Oranges The judge found the 2001 work too "obscure" to have been known about or copied by the Italian conceptualist. By Jo Lawson-Tancred, Jun 14, 2023
