As a landlord or property owner, there are several reasons that
may lead you to evict a tenant or otherwise remove their personal
property. But you may be exposing yourself to intellectual property
liability if proper care and legal precautions are not taken. In
the noteworthy case, Narkiewics-Laine v. Doyle, involving
the overlap between commercial landlord-tenant law and intellectual
property law, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh
Circuit affirmed a jury damages award of $300,000 to a tenant whose
landlord destroyed his abandoned artwork.
What Happened?
In 2004, Narkiewics-Laine, an artist, leased storage space from
members of the Doyle family. The lease lasted about six years until
Mr. Narkiewics-Laine failed to make several payments for the
storage space and the utilities for the property. Like any
reasonable landlord, the Doyles then discarded of Mr.
Narkiewics-Laine's stored property and cleared the rental
space. Mr. Narkiewics-Laine asserted
