A nonprofit created to promote and exhibit African Art has lost its charitable tax exemption and has seen the Internal Revenue Service revocation sustained on appeal by the Tax Court.  The Court agreed that the intended museum had not shown that it operated exclusively for charitable purposes.

A cleaning contractor for three charitable hospitals in Maryland is not an agent of the hospitals in the purchase of cleaning supplies and cannot benefit from the sales tax exemption available to hospitals, an appellate court in Maryland has ruled.  The Court has reversed a state Tax Court ruling that allowed the contractor to claim the exemption.

Artist Andy Warhol’s creation of a series of portraits of the singer Prince, based on a single copyrighted photograph of the singer, has infringed upon the photographer’s copyright protection, a controversial opinion of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has held.  The Court has reversed a District Court opinion and has held that the works did not qualify as a “fair use” of the original photograph.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has recently affirmed a District Court decision cutting the Military Order of the Purple Heart off from its fundraising foundation and the use of the trademarked term “Purple Heart” in its fundraising activities.  Although the opinion does not explain the governance relationship between the Order and the Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation, it appears that the two organizations are legally separate and that the Order does not control the Foundation.

A limited liability company that has a 501(c)(3) charity as its sole member is not entitled to a charitable real estate tax exemption on property owned by the LLC, the Court of Appeals in Michigan has ruled.  It has affirmed a ruling by the state Tax Tribunal denying the requested exemption on the basis that the LLC is not itself a charity.