Opinion ID: 781837
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Authenticity of the Paintings

Text: 39 The district court held that the burden to prove the falsity of the defendants' statements regarding the Paintings rested on the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs, therefore, had to prove that the Paintings were created by Lazar. Judge Cedarbaum determined that the evidence regarding the authenticity of the Boulés' collection was in equipoise and that the plaintiffs had failed to carry their burden and prove falsity. Boulé, 138 F.Supp.2d at 503-04. 40 We review the district court's findings of fact for clear error. Harris Trust and Sav. Bank v. John Hancock Mut. Life Ins. Co., 302 F.3d 18, 26 (2d Cir.2002). Judge Cedarbaum's findings of fact evince a careful review of the extensive record and a mastery of complex facts; we can find no clear error in her findings on authenticity. The district court gave limited weight to the certificates of authenticity that Mark had signed because of Mark's lack of credibility. Judge Cedarbaum found that he had lied under oath in court when he denied signing the certificates. Although she found the testimony given by the Boulés' French art historian more credible than that given by the Russian art historian upon whom the defendants relied, the value of the opinion by the French expert regarding authenticity was diminished by that expert's heavy reliance on the discredited certificates. The competing technical experts agreed that there were no anachronistic elements in the paper used for the Paintings, but disagreed regarding the inks. It was not clear error to find this and the other evidence presented at trial in equipoise. 41 The Boulés contend that the burden of proof regarding the origin of the Paintings should have been placed on the defendants. Under the Lanham Act, the burden of proving that a statement made by a defendant is false generally rests on the plaintiff. See, e.g., S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., 241 F.3d at 238. 42 The Boulés contend that Hutton and the Khidekels implied that they had conducted tests on the Paintings, and as a consequence, that the Boulés need only show that no tests were done. See Castrol, Inc. v. Quaker State Corp., 977 F.2d 57, 62 (2d Cir.1992). The Boulés also contend that the burden of proof should have been shifted to the defendants both because the defendants were in a better position to disprove the authenticity of the Paintings, and because it is difficult to prove that the Paintings are authentic. As these arguments were not presented to the district court, they need not be addressed here unless it would be necessary to avoid a manifest injustice. See Davenport v. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 249 F.3d 130, 133 (2d Cir.2001). We find no manifest injustice in refusing to entertain these arguments. We need not decide today, therefore, whether statements about facts uniquely within the ability of defendants to know or prove would justify an alteration in the burden of proof. 43