Pissarro painting confiscated by Nazis at center of Supreme Court arguments

[Princess Turandot]

9. The court isn't deciding who owns the painting: it's deciding whether the laws of California or ...

...the laws of Spain should be used to answer that question. California state law (applied in a federal court case, for reasons too long to explain) would in all likelihood rule for the heirs, while Spanish law would allow the museum to keep the work. Several circuits have apparently ruled in legally similar cases that the state laws should prevail; in this particular case, however, the 9th Circuit has previously ruled for the museum.

The outcome of this case has broader application to cases brought under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which controls when/how a case can be brought in US courts against a foreign sovereign/entity. I assume that's why they accepted the case (given the 9th Circuit's split).