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The law, which is often applied in cases linked to the
country's Nazi past, was updated in 2009 to include works which
were sold rather than stolen, but whose owners had been put
under pressure to part with their property.
The 34-metre long Beethoven Frieze, completed in 1902 as a
homage to the German composer's Ninth Symphony, used to belong
to the Lederer family, but was seized when they fled to
Switzerland after Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938.
Erich Lederer got the masterpiece back after World War Two, but
he was not allowed to export his many other artworks unless he
sold the painting to the Austrian state at a discount, the
family's lawyers say.
He eventually sold it for $750,000 in the 1970s and it now hangs
on public display in Vienna's Secession Building.
Austria's government, which returned several works by Klimt's
near contemporary Egon Schiele to Lederer's heirs in 1999, said
it would follow an expert panel's decision on Friday that the
painting was lawfully sold to the state.
One of the lawyer's representing some of Lederer's heirs said he
rejected Friday's decision and planned to take the case to the
European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg or a court in the
United States.
Swiss-based lawyer Marc Weber said the decision-making process
regarding Austria's restitution law was not transparent for the
heirs of former owners.
Alfred Noll, another lawyer representing a group of Lederer's
heirs, echoed Weber's criticism, but said he would not take
further action, according to the APA news agency.
Culture Minister Josef Ostermayer said he was glad the frieze
would remain on show for people in Austria to visit.
(Reporting by Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Louise Ireland and
Crispian Balmer)
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