How are these issues normally handled?

[CatWoman]

Will Speilberg have to return the art?

Will he be compensated?

:shrug:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6415361.stm

Spielberg staff find stolen art

A stolen painting has been found at Steven Spielberg's home 18 years after the US filmmaker unwittingly bought it.

Spielberg's staff spotted an FBI theft notice last week and realised it was in their employer's collection.

Norman Rockwell's Russian Schoolroom was bought by Spielberg in 1989 from a legitimate dealer, the FBI said.

The painting was stolen in 1973 from an exhibition in Missouri. The FBI estimate the work could be worth $700,000 (£360,000).

[Horse with no Name]

1. He'll have to return it and lose his monetary investment

Personally if I were buying expensive art, I'd sure as hell make sure it wasn't stolen.

[jannyk]

2. Well, if you buy a 'famous' painting and

it doesn't come with a provenence (history of ownership) then you can pretty much bank on it being stolen (or fake). If he got a provenence, then I guess he's got a case against the one that sold it to him as it had to have been forged.

[slackmaster]

3. If I were him I'd demand my money back from the dealer who sold it to me

That person may have some kind of E&O insurance policy to cover it.

[MonkeyFunk]

4. typically

he's S.O.L.

I think it was very classy that he immediately reported it as soon as he discovered it was stolen. And he may have a civil action against the dealer who sold it, but legally - it belongs to the owner.

It's like getting a phony $100 bill. It doesn't matter if 50 people had it before you, if YOU'RE the one holding it when it's discovered, you lose out.

But I wouldn't worry too much about Spielberg. He didn't pay anywhere near its current value, I'm sure, and he can absorb the loss. But it is a shame for him, though. It's a pretty cool painting.