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BRAND X EDITIONS, LTD. v. Wool, 2014 N.Y. Slip Op 50005 (Sup. Ct. 2014) — breach of contract for production of prints in a work for hire; preliminary conference scheduled for Jan. 28, 2014, at Supreme Court, New York County, 60 Centre Street, Room 228, New York, NY.

Davidson v. PERLS, 2013 N.Y. Slip Op 52208 (Sup. Ct. 2013) — case dismissed on statute of limitations grounds.

Cramer v. Calder Foundation, (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 28, 2014) — case involving authenticity of a Calder sculpture owned by the Gerald Cramer Estate. Causes of action include product disparagement and antitrust violations. Attorneys for the estate are Michael Lacher and Adam Rader.

Depew v. City of New York, 1:2015cv03821 (S.D.N.Y., May 18, 2015) — Members of the Illuminator Art Collective have sued New York City alleging false arrest and First Amendment retaliation stemming from an incident last summer. The artists were charged with illegal advertising for using a projector to display text onto the exterior walls of the Met protesting the dedication of David H. Koch Plaza. The charges were dropped but the NYPD did not return the projector for over two months. The plaintiffs argue that this constituted an illegal prior restraint on speech.

Greenfield v. Pankey, 1:13-cv-09025-PGG (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 27, 2013) — copyright infringement case filed by a New York photographer against a painter in Texas. Summary.

John Eskenazi, Ltd. v. Maitreya Inc., 1:2015cv03695 (S.D.N.Y. May 13, 2015) — British art dealer John Eskenazi has filed suit against NY-based Asian art dealer Nayef Homsi and his corporation, Maitreya Inc. alleging breach of warranty, fraud, civil conspiracy and unjust enrichment and demanding $80,000 in damages arising from Eskenazi’s 2013 purchase from Maitreya of a 9th-c. Indian statue of the god Bhairava which the Department of Homeland Security alleged was stolen from an Indian temple. The Manhattan DA filed a forfeiture action against Maitreya, alleging that it knew that the Bhairava and other statutes which it sold were stolen.

Latipac, Inc. v. Metropolitan Museum of Art (N.Y.S. Mar. 10, 2014) –– Plaintiff and Defendant own two identical items and Plaintiff seeks to sell it. Museum is understood to be denying the authenticity of the object owned by the Plaintiff (see Museum item: Head of King David, ca. 1145) and Plaintiff is seeking injunction against slander of title and defamation among other actions.

Overton v. Art Finance Partners LLC, 1:2015cv03927 (S.D.N.Y. May 21, 2015) –– Kiwi art collector Stephanie Overton has filed suit in New York alleging that $10.8 million worth of her paintings were sold by a NYC art dealer without her permission. The paintings were allegedly bought by defendants, eight art companies, who should have known that they were being sold improperly by Timothy Sammons, Inc., a fine art agency which is not a party here. The suit asks for over $1 million in punitive damages for replevin, conversion and aiding and abetting TSI’s breach of fiduciary duty.

Ryan v. Editions Ltd. West, Inc., 5:06-CV-08412-PSG (9th Cir. May 19, 2015) — The 9th Circuit ruled that pastel artist Victoria Ryan was improperly denied the full amount of attorney’s fees stemming from her copyright battle against Editions Limited West, which had violated her 1995 publishing contract. Ryan sought $328,000 in attorney’s fees but was awarded roughly a quarter of that amount because she prevailed on only one of her four claims. The district court failed to adequately explain this decision and the 9th Circuit was therefore unable to sustain it.

Scher v. Stendhal Gallery, 2014 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2082 (First Dept., Mar. 27 2014) — On appeal, J. Friedman ruled that Paula Scher, an established graphic artist owned the works she consigned to Stendhal Gallery on the basis of the agency law and not the New York Arts and Cultural Affairs law.

USA v. Ramnarine,( S.D.N.Y. Jan, 2014) – foundry owner pleaded guilty to creating unauthorized works by Jasper Johns and others.