The court began to examine the dispute between Bořek Šípek and Škoda Auto

Prague - The Prague High Court today began to address the appeal by Škoda Auto against the first-instance judgment, according to which it is to pay over 72,000 euros (1.9 million crowns) to the artist Bořek Šípek. He is seeking payment for his work Magical Forest, which the company exhibited in the Autostadt complex in Wolfsburg, Germany. In this context, Šípek is also suing the gallerist Jiří Švestka, who facilitated the sale of the piece.
    The chair of the panel, Radomír Křivánek, adjourned the hearing until August 18. He wants to request the files from the District Court for Prague 6 regarding the dispute between the artist and Švestka.
    Šípek claims that he entrusted his work to Švestka based on an oral agreement. They supposedly agreed that he would exhibit it in his gallery and attempt to find a buyer for him for nearly a forty percent commission.
    Škoda Auto ordered the altered work in December 1998, and Šípek later installed it himself in the Autostadt, which promotes car brands also through art. Škoda paid Švestka for the work, but Šípek allegedly did not receive any money. He therefore sued both Škoda and Švestka and his company Makum.
    The Prague Municipal Court originally dismissed the artist's lawsuit on the grounds that no contract for the work had been concluded, and thus Šípek did not have the right to payment. However, the court did not address whether the defendants unfairly enriched themselves at Šípka's expense by using his work; therefore, the appellate panel returned the case to him. The Municipal Court, for the second time, provisionally upheld Šípek's lawsuit against Škoda but dismissed the lawsuit against the company Makum. The lawsuit against Švestka was separated for independent proceedings at the District Court for Prague 6. There, the proceedings are suspended until a definitive decision is made in the dispute with Škoda.
    The sculptor David Černý is also in litigation with Švestka over Autostadt; he has recently gained public recognition primarily as the author of the controversial sculpture Entropa - a decoration of the Czech EU presidency. In May, Černý managed to prove in court that Švestka owes him over a million crowns for his works. The ruling is not yet final, and Švestka is likely to appeal.