Following Dali's death in 1989, management of the artist's legacy was divided among the Spanish government in Madrid, the foundation in Figueres,and the Dutch - based Demart. As the major recipient of Dali's will, the Madrid government spent a year sorting out the estate, which included property and some 190 works worth around $90 Million. Demart was allowed to consolidate its control of the Dali copyright, from which it began to generate significant revenues.

From Page 146 - ARTnews December 2000

In September 1999 the Spanish government ruled that the contract between Dali and Descharnes amounted to a "temporary assignment of copyright" that expired with Dali death. Demart was asked to refrain from all further exercise of intellectual -- property rights.

According to Descharns,three copies of the original contract exist: One with Demart: One with Demarts lawyer, Jose Brionis,in Madrid: and the third with the foundation. But the Foundation maintains it has only seen photocopies of the contract and never the original, a fact Descharnes says he is unable to explain. Furthermore, no assertion was made at the time of the signing that Dali, then ailing both psyically and mentally, was of sound mind." (There was no need for that either," comments Descharnes. "If there had been, We could in turn question the legitimacy of the donation of the works by Dali to the Foundation.") At the foundation's board meeting the next month.Descharns's life trusteeship was revoked -- illegally, he claims -- and he was expelled by the unanimous vote of the rest of the board.

The foundation immediately sent out letters to all known Demart clients informing them to pay all royalties to the foundation. Two years later, the foundation signed a contract with the Spanish artist rights association VEGAP (Visual Entidad De Gestion De Artistas Plasticos) for the management of those rights. The foundation has since sought to short circuit Demart by obtaining the corroboration of other official artist. rights associations. Since 1997 the foundation says, it has been receiving revenues from every such association in the world, although it will not disclose how much it has earned from these groups.

In a decision last August, the Tokyo district court ordered the defendants to pay royalties on the catalogue, which of about 6.8 million yen Or $63,000 to Demart. It also ordered the foundation to destroy any remaining unsold catalogues. In this ruling the court found that the Spanish government's 1994 decision to grant copyright to the foundation was "without basis in law."

Page 147. ARTnews December 2000

While Demart continues this legal barrage, the Gala foundation has set its sights on the wholesale dismantling of the Dutch company and the trust that operates it. In November 1989 the Foundation filed suite in Fredericton, New Brunswick, to dissolve the Pro Arte Trust.

In the initial ruling in June of last year. New Brunswick judge Hugh McLellan expressed ambivalence about the rival claims of the two parties. While acknowledging the foundations mandate to protect the Dali legacy, the judge noted that both the Pro Arte Trust and the foundation were created at around the same moment in Dali's life and that the artist may have had a reason for dividing the management of hi s estate between the two. McLellan observed that although the trust now benefits the foundation, it is allowed to accumulate funds for a period of 80 years,0r until 2064."Under the terms of the trust deed."he wrote in

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