Legal

Israel in contravention of UN court ruling as it carries out ‘genocidal military campaign’ in Gaza, new Forensic Architecture report says

Report refutes Israel’s claims in The Hague that it has implemented "humanitarian measures" to prevent the loss of civilian life

Paris court finds billionaire dealer Guy Wildenstein guilty of tax fraud

He has received a four year prison sentence and been fined €1m for concealing from authorities a massive art collection to avoid paying inheritance tax

Auction of living artist's skin cancelled after collector buys all lots in advance

Christie’s was due to support the sale of Wolfgang Flatz's tattooed tissue

Court of Appeal ruling will prevent UK museums from charging reproduction fees—at last

Those © symbols on UK museum websites and catalogues are now redundant if the original work of art is out of copyright

Supreme court ruling concludes lengthy battle over Franz West estate

The Austrian sculptor's art will go to his private foundation overturning previous decision granting ownership to West's widow and children

Art marketcomment

How an Oscar statuette row highlights issues around resale rights in the US

A Californian ruling blocking the resale of an Academy Award may bring clarity over transfer of ownership of living artists’ work

Taxnews

Internal Revenue Service warns of tax scam targeting collectors

Scheme involves inflating value of donated works to claim bigger tax deductions

Jewish cabaret artist’s heirs file suit for return of 12 works by Schiele

Vienna museums sued for return of works held by collector murdered in Dachau

Banksynews

Scheme to sell fractions of Banksy’s Valentine’s Day Mascara could be illegal, lawyer says

Online company managing the Margate mural, intended as a comment on domestic abuse, has already sold more than £250,000 in shares

Venice Biennale artist Alberta Whittle accused of using parts of another artist’s sculpture in her work

Mary Redmond has launched copyright claims against Whittle and the National Galleries of Scotland

NFTnews

Former OpenSea employee sentenced to three months in prison in first-ever NFT insider-trading case

Nathaniel Chastain's landmark case has come to a close, setting a new precedent in the realm of digital assets

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

In the wake of climate protests and pandemics, collectors are growing wary of loaning art to museums

Prospective lenders are increasingly nervous that their works will be targeted by attacks or be vulnerable to a lack of security during museum closures

MoMA trustee Leon Black accused of rape

A lawsuit claims that the billionaire sexually assaulted a woman in Jeffrey Epstein's New York mansion

Qatari sheikh wins £4.2m lawsuit against prominent London dealer John Eskenazi

While the judge decided the defendant sold the works in good faith, he ruled that all seven objects purchased by the sheikh are fakes

Paris gallerists—found guilty of selling Picasso works stolen by handyman—receive suspended jail sentences

Belle et Belle gallery has now been dissolved, closing the chapter on a decade-long criminal investigation

Banksynews

The last laugh? EU rules in favour of challenged Banksy trademark

Overturned ruling allows Banksy to continue to conceal his identity, according to a trademark lawyer

Disgraced antiquities dealer Subhash Kapoor sentenced to ten years in prison by Indian court

The ruling culminates an extensive investigation into a smuggling ring headed by Kapoor

Art marketcomment

Charm, pedigree, contacts: how to dupe the art market

Court documents from the ongoing Inigo Philbrick fraud saga reveal that the secretive art market and the sheer attractiveness of its lifestyle will always suck the punters in

German dealer Johann König responds to allegations of ‘sexual misconduct’ from ten women

Claims were first published by Die Zeit newspaper, but König says the report is “false and misleading”

Russian museum founder and former mayor faces prison for criticising Ukraine invasion

Yevgeny Roizman, who established the Nevyansk Icon Museum in Yekaterinburg, was until yesterday the last prominent opposition politician in Russia to not have been arrested for speaking out against the war

Russianews

Russian artist Yulia Tsvetkova—who faced six years in prison on pornography charges for her drawings—is acquitted in court

But the artist's mother warns that worst is not over as prosecutors can still appeal for a resentencing

Artist can take Maurizio Cattelan to court over banana work, says Florida judge

Joe Morford claims that the viral Comedian piece infringes copyright on his own duct tape work Banana & Orange

What does New York’s abrupt winding back of auction house regulations mean for the art market?

The houses say they will not change their practices, but the move could mean more opaque bidding and guarantees

NFTnews

NFTs ruled as digital assets after Singapore court freezes blockchain sale of Bored Ape

Collector has won a court injunction to stop the sale of an NFT that was used as collateral against a loan

Art marketanalysis

Experts fear New York City slashing auction house regulations could erode collector trust and confidence

As the city council cuts auction regulations, the houses say they will not change their practices, but the prospect of more opaque bidding and guarantees may prove irresistible

NFTnews

NFTs recognised as ‘legal property’ in landmark case

Victims of NFT thefts are now likely to have greater protection in the UK—though other jurisdictions are lagging behind

New Twitter safety rules banning non-consensual imagery branded 'a declaration of war against photojournalists'

Social media giant will now delete published images and videos that violate a person's privacy—a move that could prove detrimental to news reporting

The socialite collectors, the $700,000 Cecily Brown painting and the first-refusal contract—lawsuit reveals secret machinations of the art world

Chinese collector Michael Xufu Huang was covertly buying works on behalf of the Monaco-based Federico Castro Debernardi for a 10% commission. But then he got stung