Mark Grotjahn sues Dean Valentine for resale royalties

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The 1976 California Resale Royalty Act, an unevenly publicized and rarely enforced law, has pitted artist against collector before, as artists have sought to collect the 5% of resale transactions promised them under the law. But a number of lawyers say they can’t remember another time in recent years when an artist took a collector to court and the two didn’t quickly settle.

Click here for the full story about the lawsuit brought by Los Angeles painter Mark Grotjahn against his one-time collector Dean Valentine, which has been moving through the courts on jurisdictional issues for nearly a year now. Both Grotjahn and Valentine say their prime motivation isn’t money but the principles involved. The trial is set for March 6, 2012.

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-- Jori Finkel
Twitter.com/jorifinkel

in 2008 sold for $1.217 million including a premium at Phillips de Pury, is the highest-priced work sold by Dean Valentine for which Grotjahn is seeking a royalty payment. Credit: Joshua White; image courtesy of the artist