Plaintiff Clint Arthur visited the recent Takashi Murakami exhibition "©MURAKAMI" at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.

Murakami previously worked with Louis Vuitton to create fabric designs for handbags. Arthur bought two limited-edition Murakami canvasses from Louis Vuitton at its boutique on the exhibition floor.

Arthur also bought three limited-edition Murakami lithograph prints at the MOCA retail store.

The lawsuits allege violations of the California Sale of Fine Prints Act (Cal. Civ. Code § 1740) and the Unfair Competition Law (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200).

The Fine Prints Act requires art dealers to provide a certificate of authenticity with any limited-edition artwork. These certificates must document key facts about the art, including the method of production, the number of copies in the edition, and whether the copies are signed.

The Louis Vuitton complaint alleges that the certificates that Louis Vuitton provided for the canvases did not meet the requirements of the statute. Arthur is suing Louis Vuitton on behalf of all those who bought Murakami canvases from Louis Vuitton during the exhibition.

The MOCA complaint alleges that MOCA provided no certificates of authenticity at all, violating the statute. Arthur is suing MOCA on behalf of all those who bought limited-edition artwork from MOCA without certificates, by Murakami or any other artist.

Update 9/20: Read the October 2008 Condé Nast Portfolio story about the Louis Vuitton case.

Read the June 25 LA Times story about the Louis Vuitton case.
Read the July 3 LA Times story about both cases.
Read the July 7 Bloomberg story about both cases.
Read the key court filings.

I am co-counsel on these two cases with lead counsel Dan Engel.

— MB