Background
Robert Indiana was an American artist best known for his iconic LOVE image — a stacked arrangement of the letters L, O, V, and E that became one of the most widely recognized symbols in contemporary art. In the 1990s, the Morgan Art Foundation acquired exclusive reproduction rights to Indiana’s works. Indiana died in 2018.
Michael McKenzie, an art dealer operating through his company American Image Art, had a longstanding relationship with Indiana and held a contract to produce works based on Indiana’s 2008 HOPE sculpture. The Morgan Art Foundation filed suit in 2018, alleging that McKenzie and American Image Art were producing and selling thousands of unauthorized reproductions and outright forgeries of Indiana’s works — including LOVE prints and sculptures — and passing them off as genuine Indiana pieces.
The litigation was marked by extraordinary discovery disputes. The court found McKenzie engaged in a “repeated, intentional refusal to comply with court-ordered discovery,” including relocating approximately 2,500 Indiana artworks from his studio before a court-ordered inspection in 2021. These violations led to severe sanctions: the court struck several of McKenzie’s counterclaims, entered default judgment on liability for the tortious interference claim, and precluded McKenzie from using key evidence and witnesses at trial. Whistleblower testimony from former employees and a recorded video allegedly showing a mechanical device used to forge Indiana’s signature on prints were among the evidence presented to the jury.
The Court’s Holding
After a trial in the Southern District of New York, the jury returned a verdict on April 24, 2026, finding McKenzie and American Image Art liable for copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and tortious interference with contract. The jury awarded the Morgan Art Foundation $102 million in damages — one of the largest copyright verdicts ever in an art reproduction case.
The verdict reflected the scale of McKenzie’s operations: evidence showed thousands of works had been sold as authentic Robert Indiana pieces when they were actually unauthorized reproductions. The court’s earlier sanctions rulings — which stripped McKenzie of key defenses due to his discovery abuses — significantly shaped the trial landscape, leaving the jury to assess primarily the scope of damages rather than contested liability on several claims.
Key Takeaways
- Discovery misconduct carries consequences. McKenzie’s systematic obstruction — hiding artwork, refusing document production, and alleged evidence destruction — resulted in sanctions so severe they effectively decided portions of the case before trial.
- Exclusive licensing rights are enforceable. The verdict reinforces that holders of exclusive reproduction rights can recover substantial damages when those rights are violated on a commercial scale.
- Art fraud meets copyright law. This case illustrates how copyright infringement claims can serve as a powerful legal tool against art forgery and unauthorized reproduction — especially when the scale of the fraud is well-documented.
Why It Matters
The $102 million verdict is among the largest ever in an art copyright case and sends a clear message to the art market: unauthorized reproduction of protected works carries massive financial exposure. For galleries, dealers, and publishers, the case underscores the importance of clear licensing agreements and honest compliance with litigation obligations. The discovery sanctions in this case also serve as a cautionary tale — courts have broad discretion to impose case-altering penalties when parties obstruct the discovery process. McKenzie is expected to appeal.