The decision was based on the definition of the tort of conversion and the applicability of the principle of sovereign immunity.

It ruled that the United States was entitled to sovereign immunity against tort claims unless it had been expressly waived.

The four watercolors by Adolf Hitler had been stored (along with other artwork) in a castle during World War II, and were discovered by the U.S. Army as it occupied Germany.

The Hitler watercolors were classified as "military objects" and transferred from Munich to Wiesbaden, and then to the United States around June 1950.

The main photographic archive had been used in evidence at the Nuremberg Trials and was shipped to the United States "around the time of the Berlin Airlift" (1948–1949).

Price attempted to overcome that hurdle by challenging the validity of the vesting order, but the Court found that the time limit for such claims had long since passed.

The Federal Tort Claims Act requires that a plaintiff must have received a written denial from the government or waited six months before starting a lawsuit (28 U.S.C.