Case Law Corner
Welcome to the world’s largest collection of case law summaries at the intersection of visual art and the law!
Our comprehensive database covers a broad range of litigation topics from copyright infringement to looted art litigation, trademark disputes, the Visual Artists Rights Act, and more. While the majority of cases originate from U.S. courts, the database also features a significant number of cases from international sources.
Easily navigate the database by filtering your search by court or specific subject matter—such as “Copyright,” “Trademark,” or “Art Theft.” Each entry includes a summary of the case and a direct link to the primary source document for deeper exploration.
Whether you’re a legal professional, scholar, or art enthusiast, our Case Law Database is your go-to resource for understanding the evolving legal landscape of visual art!
Dear Visitor,
Case Law Corner Database is available to our premium subscribers only. For access, please log in or become a premium member.
Our Case Review Articles
Perelman’s Art Damage Case Continued to Burn Through Court Last Week
June 23, 2025
Case Review Update: Thaler v. Perlmutter (2025)
June 20, 2025
Case Review: Hayden v. Koons (2025)
June 17, 2025
Case Review: Ravensburger v. Italian Ministry of Culture (LG Stuttgart, Judgment of 14.03.2024 – 17 O…
October 19, 2024
Case Review: Getty v. Italy (2024)
July 24, 2024
Case Review: Farmer-Paellmann v Smithsonian Inst.
July 11, 2024
Case Review: Kerson v. Vermont Law School, Inc.
June 21, 2024
Matters of Baldessari: Estate of the Artist Finds Itself on Both Sides of Litigation
May 16, 2024
Case Review: Hermès International v. Rothschild
May 7, 2024
“Shhhhhh”: Kat Von D and Tattoo Fan Art – Sedlik v. Von Drachenberg (2021)
April 16, 2024
Case Review: RF and Bulatov v. Tsvetkova and other charges against an artist
April 8, 2024
Appropriation or Art? Court Orders Richard Prince to Pay Damages in Highly Anticipated Copyright Lawsuit
February 28, 2024
AI and Artists’ IP: Exploring Copyright Infringement Allegations in Andersen v. Stability AI Ltd.
February 26, 2024
Diversity-Fraud: Accent Delight v. Sotheby’s
February 15, 2024
Case Review: Reif, et al. v. The Art Institute of Chicago (2023)
February 13, 2024
Case Review: Thaler v. Perlmutter (2023)
December 11, 2023
Case Review: The Barnes Foundation can now loan art (2023)
October 13, 2023
Case Review: Free Holdings v. McCoy and Sotheby’s (2023)
September 12, 2023
Protection of Cultural Icons: Implications of the Galleria dell’Accademia v. Edizioni Conde Nast Decision
August 30, 2023
Case Review: Yuga Labs, Inc. v. Ripps, et al., 2:22-cv-04355 (C.D. Cal. April 21, 2023)
August 21, 2023
Copyright Registration for AI Generated Works: Zarya of the Dawn and the Dawn of a New…
July 6, 2023
Langford and the Pandora Papers: The Flaws Uncovered in the Art World
June 9, 2023
Case Review: Roberts v. Richard Beavers Gallery et al (2022) – on Artistic Tradition and Copyright…
May 29, 2023
Case Review: The Prosecutor v. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi
December 10, 2022
Degrees of Transformation: Andy Warhol’s 102 minutes of fame before the Supreme Court
November 17, 2022
Case Review: US v. Philbrick (2022)
November 7, 2022
Case Review: Art Works, Inc. v. Diana Al-Hadid
November 3, 2022
Appropriation Art on Trial: Oral Arguments before the Supreme Court in Warhol v. Goldsmith
October 22, 2022
Case Review: Cassirer et. al. v. Thyssen Bornemisza Collection Foundation (2022)
May 27, 2022
Legacy and Lawsuits: An Overview of the Robert Indiana Estate Court Battles
May 26, 2022
A Case of Forgeries at the Herbert Hoover
December 20, 2021
Case Review: Republic of Turkey v. Christie’s Inc. (2021)
December 2, 2021
Case Review: Lanier v. Harvard (2021)
July 27, 2021
Subhash Kapoor: A Decade in Review
July 13, 2021
Case Review: German Advisory Commission’s Recommendation in Rieger v. City of Cologne (2021)
June 29, 2021
Case Review: Distorted Image, Secret Dealings, and New York Artists Authorship Act (2020-2021)
May 26, 2021
A Blow to Pop Art: Case Review of Warhol v. Goldsmith (2021)
May 10, 2021
Case Review: Federal Republic of Germany v. Philipp (2021)
May 3, 2021
Oklahoma to France and Back Again? A Case of Split-Custody of Nazi-Looted Art
April 12, 2021
Case Review: Rock’n’Roll, Museums, and Copyright Law (2020)
March 19, 2021
Making a Case for the CASE Act
March 1, 2021
Case Review: A Last Laugh from Frans Hals (UK)
February 26, 2021
Case Review: Abbott Labs v. Feinberg (2020)
February 16, 2021
Case Review: René Gimpel’s Heirs Fight for Restitution by French Museums (2020)
February 1, 2021
Case Review: U.S. v. Righter (FL/CA, 2020)
November 9, 2020
Book Review: “A Philosophy Guide to Street Art and the Law” (2018)
October 6, 2020
Case Review: Meaders v. Helwaser (2020)
August 18, 2020
Case Review: Barnet et al v. Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Hellenic Republic (2020)
August 3, 2020
Remembering Modigliani: Italy’s Ongoing Battle against Forgery
July 17, 2020
Case Review: Is There HOPE for the Estate of Robert Indiana?
June 9, 2020
Case Review: Allen v. Cooper (2020)
May 11, 2020
Case Review: Republic of Turkey v. Christie’s
April 30, 2020
Case Review of the 5Pointz Appeal: Castillo et al. v. G&M Realty L.P. (2020)
March 2, 2020
Case Review: The Mayor Gallery v. Agnes Martin Catalogue Raisonné
November 12, 2019
Two for the Price of One: Recent US Legal Developments in Nazi-Looted Art
October 8, 2019
Case Review: Takeaways from Mary Boone’s Day in Court
June 21, 2019
Case Review: Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation
June 12, 2019
Case Review: de Csepel v. Republic of Hungary
May 3, 2019
Case Review: Warhol v. Goldsmith
December 5, 2018
Case Review: Droit de suite… not so sweet
September 27, 2018
Case Review: Sotheby’s v. Greece
September 24, 2018
May Flash: Basqui-what?
June 7, 2018
Around the Block Ruling in 5Pointz
April 10, 2018
Blockage Discounts and Artists’ Estates: The De Kooning Post-Mortem
March 28, 2018
Rights: Investigating and Prosecuting Kleptocracy in Malaysia
February 27, 2018
The Making of the Moral Rights Case: The Factual and Legal Background of the 5Pointz Trial
November 5, 2017
Case Review: Maestracci v. Helly Nahmad Gallery Inc. (2014)
June 12, 2017
Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow: Covenants Not to Compete Between Auction Houses
June 3, 2016
Suing Cargo Largo, Pak Mail and UPS in Florida for Art Theft
April 1, 2016
Case Preview: Andy Warhol Foundation v. Bugarin
March 15, 2016
Case Review: Christie’s v. Jombihis
March 14, 2016
Case Review: Rauschenberg Estate Saga of Trust and Fees Explained, Again
February 17, 2016
Case Review: Galin v. Kunitake Hamada (2015), or Legal Storm over “Ice Storm”
November 12, 2015
Case Review: Foster v. Svenson (2015)
May 29, 2015
Case Review: Rybolovlev v. Bouvier
April 7, 2015
Case Review: Red Rothko Suit, a.k.a. Hoffman v. L&M Arts (TX)
February 4, 2015
Rockwell-not Case Review: Knispel v. Gallery 63 Antiques
January 13, 2015
Case Review: David Toren v. Federal Republic of Germany and Free State of Bavaria – Task…
October 31, 2014
Rauschenberg Estate Saga of Trust and Fees Explained
October 29, 2014
Case Review: Crile v. Commission of Internal Revenue
October 22, 2014
Case Review: United States v. Twenty-Nine Pre-Columbian and Colonial Artifacts, From Peru
October 6, 2014
Case Review: Karlsson v. Mangan
August 22, 2014
Case Review: US v. Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer (8th Cir.)
August 11, 2014
Case Review: Frank Kolodny v. James Meyer, Fred Dorfman, and Dorfman Projects LLC (May 2014)
July 8, 2014
Case Review: Schoeps v. Free State of Bavaria (June. 2014)
July 7, 2014
Case Review: Scher v. Stendhal Gallery, Inc., et al.
May 19, 2014
Case Review: Caterbetti v. Bloomgarden, et al
May 8, 2014
Basquiat sightings, or Case Review: Heriveaux v. Christies, Inc.
March 25, 2014
Case Review: Bilinski v. the Keith Haring Foundation
March 17, 2014
Libel by Fiction: Greene v. Paramount Pictures Corporation
March 9, 2014
Case Review: Photographer v. Artist (2013)
January 14, 2014
Calder Estate Fraud Claim Dismissed: Judge Finds Allegations “An Incoherent Stew of Irrelevance and Innuendo”
January 6, 2014
Case Review: Meyer v. Bd. of Regents of the U. of Oklahoma, or How long will…
November 26, 2013
Case Preview: Lonny Marrow v. Jacob Javits Center, et al.
November 18, 2013
Lessons on Auction Houses from Sotheby’s and the Case of the Stolen Renoir
October 29, 2013
Small Win for Artists Fighting Against 5Pointz Demolition, But Will It Be Enough?
October 22, 2013
Case Review: Janney-Pace v. Metropolitan Fine Arts & Antiques
October 8, 2013
Wallspace LLC Sues Insurance Company for Damages Sustained During Sandy
September 30, 2013
A Knoedler Aftershock: Freedman sues for Defamation
September 17, 2013
Statkun v. Gasser and Grunert: Another VARA Claim on the Table in the Southern District of…
September 8, 2013
After a Protracted Battle, Los Angeles Takes Final Steps to Lifting Ban on Murals
September 3, 2013
Right to Privacy v. Freedom of Expression in Case of “Peeping Tom” Photographer
July 21, 2013
Case Review in Brief: Art Historian Found Liable for Incorrect Authentication (2013)
July 12, 2013
Is Cariou v. Prince Headed to the Supreme Court?
July 1, 2013
What’s in a name ‘Borghe$e’?
June 17, 2013
“What’s in a Name?” Peter Paul Biro v. Condé Nast for Defamation
May 20, 2013
Five Art Market Lessons from Recent Case Law
May 10, 2013
Appropriate Standards in Appropriation Art? Cariou v. Prince Decision Garners Relief but Fails to Provide Substantive…
April 29, 2013
In Sobel v. Eggleston, Limited Edition Is NO Limit to Subsequent Editions
April 15, 2013
Keith Haring Foundation v. Colored Thumb Corp.
March 25, 2013
“Pandorin’s Box”: Jenack v. Rabizadeh Threatens Anonymity of Sellers at Auction
February 25, 2013
Jasper Johns’ “Tantric Detail” Paintings Held Hostage and Subject of Suit
February 4, 2013
Case Review: Konowaloff v. Metropolitan Museum of Art (Holding: Met Can Keep Cézanne)
December 21, 2012
Regarding Flower in Murakami v. Boesky
November 16, 2012
Lagrange v. Knoedler — SETTLED
November 2, 2012
Case Review: the Seven-Year Saga of Bakalar v. Vavra Comes to an End
October 18, 2012
Perelman and Gagosian Countersue Over ‘Popeye’
September 20, 2012
The Velvet Underground v. The Andy Warhol Foundation — DISMISSED
September 13, 2012
Court of Appeals Reverses Lower Court’s Decision in Legal Battle Between Fashion Powerhouses
September 6, 2012
New York’s Southern District Court Rules that Artworks Consigned to Galleries May Be Reached By Creditors
July 19, 2012
CA District Court Finds State Resale Royalty Unconstitutional
May 31, 2012
The Mask, Egyptian Funerary and Known to Legally Disappear
May 31, 2012
Footnote: Supreme Court Declines Review of Black Swan Case
May 17, 2012
Marc Jancou Files $26 Million Suit Against Cady Nowland and Sotheby’s
February 20, 2012
The Kunstmuseum Basel and Malevich Heirs Settle
February 1, 2012
Warhol Foundation Urges Protection for Appropriation Art as Experts Debate
December 21, 2011
Nazi-Era Art Litigation: Orkin v Swiss Confederation
October 10, 2011
More About the Public Domain: Golan v Holder
October 1, 2011
Cariou v Prince: a continuing controversy
September 24, 2011
VLA fils an amicus brief in support of Kelley
September 12, 2011
Inspiration or Infringement: Gordon v McGinley
August 21, 2011
No One is Innocent but the Cow, or The Tale of a Callous Son
August 19, 2011
"Phony And Overvalued Russian Art" Impossible but Caveat Emptor
August 8, 2011
Supreme Court Nonplussed by Claimant Endeavor to Recover Art in Von Saher v. Norton Simon Museum…
June 28, 2011
Framing Fiduciary Duty in Marchig v. Christie’s
June 26, 2011
A Pissarro, Stolen and Forfeited
June 12, 2011
Art Authentication: another foundation comes under scrutiny
March 31, 2011
Yes Rasta: Richard Prince loses copyright suit
March 24, 2011
Recent Developments on the Herzog Collection — Nixon Peabody Advises Hungary with Restitution Issues
March 21, 2011
Parties in Adams Photo Dispute Settle
March 17, 2011
Dances With Bisons Starring Costner and Detmers — UPDATED 5/15/12
March 7, 2011
Art Dealers Under Review: The Wildensteins
March 5, 2011
Westfield v. Federal Republic of Germany — FSIA schields Germany from defending the case on the…
February 6, 2011
WikiLeaks and Art Law?! Black Swan Affair Gets Wind to its Sail
January 7, 2011
Spain, Thyssen-Bornemisza Seek Review of Ninth Circuit FSIA Decision
December 20, 2010
Term of Art: Authenticity
December 15, 2010
United States and Nicaragua Extend Agreement to Protect Archaeological Heritage of Nicaragua
October 24, 2010
Will the Supreme Court Take Up Nazi-era Limitations Periods?
October 12, 2010
YouTube copyright case in Spain — Google cleared
September 26, 2010
Just Another Art Restitution Case? Think again
August 13, 2010
Another Odyssey Decisions from FL courts
August 12, 2010
VARA Applies to Unfinished Works
January 28, 2010
DOJ Urges 7th Circuit to Shield Iranian Artifacts From Seizure by Terrorism Victims
November 3, 2009
GLOBAL PIRACY WATCH: AUSTRALIA’S ISP LIABILITY TEST CASE
October 19, 2009
SHEPARD FAIREY V. ASSOCIATED PRESS (PICTURE’S WORTH SOMETHING)
October 19, 2009
Keep your Friends Close — Foundations In Dispute Over Artists’ Funds
March 3, 2009
Consignment Dispute or Private Property in St. Petersburg
March 1, 2009
Photographers of the World Unit (Under US Copyright Law)
March 1, 2009
