Kunstsammlungen Zu Weimar v. Elicofon case brief

Kunstsammlungen Zu Weimar v. Elicofon case brief summary

536 F.Supp. 829

CASE SYNOPSIS: Plaintiff museum brought a motion for summary judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 in an action against defendant possessor to recover possession of two paintings. The possessor brought a cross-motion for summary judgment.

FACTS: The possessor purchased two portraits which were stolen by an American serviceman during the Allied occupation of Germany. The museum brought an action against the possessor to recover possession of the portraits. The museum brought a motion for summary judgment pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 56, and the possessor brought a cross-motion for summary judgment.

HOLDING:
The court ruled that an innocent purchaser of personal property from a wrongdoer must first be informed of the defect in his title and have an opportunity to deliver the property to the true owner before he was made liable as a tortfeasor for wrongful conversion.

ANALYSIS:

• To recover possession of the paintings the museum must prove ownership. 
• Also, the court found that a demand could not be indefinitely postponed by a plaintiff in a conversion action because there was a requirement that it be made within a reasonable time. 
• The court granted the museum's motion for summary judgment and denied the possessor's cross-motion for summary judgment, concluding that the museum as a matter of law demonstrated that the paintings were stolen and that it was entitled as owner to possession.

CONCLUSION: The museum's motion for summary judgment was granted, and the possessor's motion for summary judgment was denied.

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