News

Partner Eric M. George was quoted in the Los Angeles Times article “Artists Sue Two Auction Houses,” discussing the alleged violations of the California Resale Royalty Act by auction houses.  Under the California statute, artists are entitled to a 5 percent royalty from the resale of one-of-a-kind fine art if the seller lives in California or the transaction occurs in California.  As a result of having represented a collector in the past in a suit against the auction house Christie’s, Mr. George discovered the difficulties artists were having in eliciting information from auction houses that was relevant to whether royalties were owed.  After filing complaints in federal court asserting that certain auction houses did not abide by the law, Mr. George stated that, “It’s a wholesale, systematic denial by Sotheby’s and Christie’s of artists’ rights.  How they’ve gotten away with it for this long is a mystery.”