United States Ninth Circuit

In an action under the Visual Artists Rights Act and Nevada law, in which Plaintiffs transformed a used school bus into La Contessa, a mobile replica of a 16th-century Spanish galleon for use at the Burning Man Festival, and after the defendant took possession of the land on which La Contessa was stored, he burned its wooden structure so that a scrap metal dealer could remove the underlying school bus from his property, the district court's judgment in favor of the defendant is affirmed where: 1) La Contessa was 'applied art' and therefore was not covered by VARA’'s protection of artists' rights of integrity and attribution in works of visual art; 2) on the plaintiffs' conversion claim, the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding expert testimony, nor in instructing the jury on abandoned property, lost profits, and punitive damages; and 3) the district court did not err in awarding attorneys' fees to the defendant after the plaintiffs rejected an offer of judgment made under Nevada law.

Appellate Information

• Published 2016/06/08

Judges

• O'SCANNLAIN

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel