This is a brief excerpt from the document you requested from IFAR’s Art Law & Cultural Property Database.
Case Summary
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston v. Seger-Thomschitz
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston v. Seger-Thomschitz, No. 1:08-cv-10097 (D.Mass. 2009), aff'd 623 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2010), cert. denied, 131 S.Ct. 1612 (U.S. 2011).
Précis
In 2008, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (“MFA” or “Museum”) initiated a
declaratory judgment
A binding adjudication that determines the rights, duties, or obligations of each party in a dispute without ordering any specific legal consequences.
declaratory judgment action in Massachusetts federal court to
quiet title
A lawsuit to establish a party's title to real property against anyone and everyone, and thus quiet any challenges or claims to the title (http://dictionary.law.com).
quiet title to a Kokoschka painting that had been in the Museum’s collection since 1973. The District Court granted the Museum’s motion for
summary judgment
A judgment granted on a claim or defense about which there is no genuine issue of material fact and upon which the movant is entitled to prevail as a matter of law. The court considers the contents of the pleadings, the motions, and additional evidence adduced by the parties to determine whether there is a genuine issue of material fact rather than one of law. This procedural device allows the speedy disposition of a controversy without the need for trial (Black’s Law Dictionary (8th ed. 2004)).
summary judgment, determining that an ownership claim by the heir of the work’s pre-World War II owner was time-barred. The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit . . . .
Associated Legal Decision(s)
Associated Statutes and/or Legislation
Click here to subscribe to IFAR's Art Law & Cultural Property Database to access this and other documents about U.S. and international legislation and case law concerning the acquisition, authenticity, export, ownership, and copyright of art objects.
