Tuesday, February 07, 2012

"My client just decided to settle after doing the math and deciding it was simpler to pay."

Artinfo reports on a settlement in a private California resale royalty suit brought by artist Mark Grotjahn against collector Dean Valentine.  Under the settlement, Valentine agrees "to pay Grotjahn the five percent he owed on the three works he resold, as well as some of the artist’s legal fees."  Artinfo notes that "the outcome of the case could affect the current class-action lawsuit that artists have filed against major auction houses Sotheby's [and] Christie's," but it's not clear from the article to what extent the Commerce Clause issue was implicated in the Grotjahn case.