Preventing the foundation from collecting royalties until a final decision was reached. In June 1997 the Audiencia Nacional rejected the action and lifted the stay. Demarts appeal against this ruling was thrown out by the Spanish supreme court in July of last year.

Descharnes took the French artist rights society ADAGP (Societe des Auteurs Dans les Arts Graphiques et Plastiques) to court for breaking its contract with Demart in favor of the foundation. Demart Won the first legal round.and the case is coming up for appeal. Distrains also filed lawsuits elsewhere against companies that were not paying royalties to Demart and says he has won other copyright -- infringement cases in Germany,Japan,And Switzerland.

In Japan,especially,where Dali's work is hugely popular, Demart has been able to solidify its position by means of several lawsuits. In a recent Tokyo descion,Demart was able to challenge directly the authority of the foundation -- and of the Spanish government--to control the artist copyright abroad. Last year the foundation, sponsored by the state of Spain, organized a highly popular 90 - work show that toured six Japanese venues and was seen by over 250,000 people. Demart sued the foundation as well as the show's host -- including the prefectures of Yamanashi and Hiroshima, three department stores, and the Marugame Museum-for violations of copyright in the show's catologue,which was edited in Japan.

In the end, the case may prove most valuable in shedding light on why Dali left such a mixed -- up legacy. For Decharns,the artist contract with a foreign based company merely represented sound business sense. "He was very conscious of the provincial nature of Figueres,the fact there were no really talented or experienced people there. Says Descharne."He would have had to pay too much tax if Demart had been based in Spain, And Holland was the only country that had the most favorable tax agreements. According to Descharnes the Demart deal also reflected the artist desire for a single organization to handle his rights to avoid any disagreement between Spain and Catalonia.

From Page 144 - 145, December 2000/Artnews.

Despite Demart's and the Gala - Salvador Dali foundation's seemingly overlapping mandates and activities, the two organizations were initially designed to work in tandem. When the foundation was set up in 1983,Descharns was given a prominent position in its management. According to New Brunswick court documents, the foundation original charter states that Descharnes is to "a permanent delegate"and grants him "the widest powers of attorney in order to carry out: management,administration,and supervision of any public activities performed by the foundation and especially for the universal promotion,protection,and acknowledgment of the work, of the thoughts, and individuality of the founder {Salvador Dali}and to totally represent the foundation abroad." Moreover, two other members of the New Brunswick trust's five member trust council were also original delegates of the Figueres foundation in and members of its board. And at the time Descharnes created Demart, the foundation was still a fledgling organization and did not have the resources to involve itself in the area of copy right and merchandising.

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