Academy Sues Over Auctioned Oscar, Since You Apparently Can't Do That
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is suing Briabrook Auctions as well as the heirs of late Oscar winner Joseph Wright for auctioning off his Oscar statuette for Best Color and Art Direction for 1942's My Gal Sal.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, with the Academy alleging that Wright's heirs allowed Briarbrook Auctions to sell the statuette in June for $79,200. This is in clear violation of Academy bylaws, which stipulate that Oscars cannot be sold without the seller giving the Academy right of first refusal to purchase them for $10, which is about the cost of an upsize Baconator combo at Wendy's (assuming you like things that are kind of gross). Whether you're an Oscar winner yourself or you inherit it from a late relative, the rules still apply.
Wright's heirs, Briarbrook Auctions and the Oscar's unknown buyer are named as defendants in the suit, which seeks compensatory damages of over $79,200, in addition to punitive damages, since I guess the Academy is now an inner-city public school that's strapped for cash or something. The Academy is also demanding the right to purchase the Oscar themselves for $10, since they were never offered right of first refusal.
These rules have been a staple of the Academy Awards for well over sixty years, as AMPAS seeks to protect the dignity of the Oscar by ensuring that the only way you can really get one is to earn it (provided you didn't just inherit it from a late relative, or participate in a legal, Academy-sanctioned auction where the statuette costs more than a single, crisp Hamilton). Since 1951, winners have been asked to sign a contract giving the Academy the first right to buy an unwanted Oscar back. However, sales of Oscars from before that year have still been subject to litigation. Thus, Wright's Oscar from 1942 is still subject to the Academy rules on selling a statuette, although I'm not entirely sure how unless they informed all winners previous to 1951 of the new rules, and made them sign a contract of some sort.
While Wright's heirs, Briarbrook Auctions, and the eventual buyer might argue a good faith purchase, it wouldn't surprise me if the Academy won this Oscar.
Credit: ABC / AMPAS