Copyright Law

Widening (UPDATED)

By Intellectual Property Law, Esq.

"A federal investigation into looted Asian antiquities at Southland museums has broadened to include a prominent Chicago industrialist and art collector who purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of allegedly stolen artifacts from a Cerritos arts dealer. On Thursday, the same day federal agents raided four Southern California museums suspected of displaying stolen art, authorities also searched the private museum of Barry MacLean, a trustee of the prestigious Art Institute of Chicago. The newly revealed allegations have significantly raised the stakes of the ongoing investigation, suggesting that a suspected network of illegal art dealers extended far beyond Southern California and included objects far more valuable than those previously revealed."

UPDATE: More from Richard Lacayo and Lee Rosenbaum, who says the story "keeps getting worse."

Full post as published by The Art Law Blog on January 29, 2008 (boomark / email).