The Institute of Art & Law offers knowledge and training in all aspects of the law relating to art and cultural heritage. We publish a range of books and a quarterly law journal Art Antiquity and Law, offer numerous art law courses and events, deliver in-house training and have an extensive membership body of professionals around the world. Become a member today!

Upcoming Events

  • Next IAL Study Forum – 16 November 2024

    We are pleased to announce that our next online Study Forum will take place on 16th November 2024. This will provide an excellent opportunity to hear about some of the fascinating issues and recent developments in the art and cultural heritage law field. Topics covered will include restitution, contracts, authenticity, forged art, and museums and […]

  • Short course on museum deaccession – 5 December 2024

    The IAL will once again be offering a short course on museum deaccession for museum practitioners and other professionals, to run online on the afternoon of 5th December 2024. The course will cover the major legal and ethical issues that need to be considered in this challenging area, including new changes to charity law in […]

  • Scales of Justice

    Diploma in Art Profession Law and Ethics 2025

    We are pleased to announce that our Diploma in Art Profession Law and Ethics (DipAPLE) is running once again between January and July 2025. This intensive and interactive course – run online – is designed to introduce both art professionals and lawyers to the specific legal risks and safeguards that underpin art transactions. It covers […]

Art Business & Law LLM

  • Art, Business and Law LLM

    This unique Masters in Law Programme (LLM) is offered in partnership between the Institute of Art and Law and the Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS) at Queen Mary University of London. The programme covers every major legal area affecting the art market and arts management and is ideal for practitioners in this field. The […]

Latest News

  • Are We Yet at the Heart of the San José? Interested Parties Continue to Trade Blows

    This year I’ve written about the Colombian government’s planned recovery of artefacts from the wreck of the San José, hailed as “the most valuable shipwreck in the world”. As an international investor-state arbitration proceeds in the Hague, the wreck continues to make headlines. Reports earlier in the summer indicated that the first robotic exploration of […]

    Published: November 4, 2024
  • Deal or no Deal(ing): Report on copyright seminar with Howard Kennedy

    What happens when an artist incorporates third-party material into their work? What precautions should artists, dealers, galleries or museums take when creating, managing or selling such works? The seminar, Deal or No Dealing: Copyright and Fair Dealing/Fair Use in the Visual Arts, jointly hosted by the Institute of Art and Law and Howard Kennedy LLP […]

    Published: October 28, 2024
  • New British Museum Show Examines Loot and Colonial Violence

    In What have we here? the artist Hew Locke has taken a flashlight to the British Museum’s collection; he has also taken a chisel to its somewhat staid reputation. The artist now occupies the central exhibition space at the museum, just behind the newly reopened library with its grand Victorian dome. Locke had been given […]

    Published: October 23, 2024

Latest Publications

  • Art Antiquity and Law: 2024 Annual Subscription (hard copy)

    We also offer both digital-only and digital + hardcopy subscription options in partnership with Hein. Art Antiquity and Law is a Quarterly designed for all who value the cultural and historical environment. The principal aim of the Quarterly is to inform. It exists to tell those who work in the art and antiquity world about the law governing their […]

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  • The Parthenon Marbles Dispute by Alexander Herman (Art Law Library)

    In this new book, Institute of Art and Law Director Alexander Herman provides a balanced, thorough and critical account of the history of the Parthenon Marbles, those famous pieces of ancient sculpture removed from the Acropolis in Athens by Lord Elgin’s men in the early 19th century. He also addresses the legalities of their removal and the ethics of their retention by the British Museum.

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  • Art Antiquity and Law: 2023 Annual Subscription (hard copy)

    We also offer both digital-only and digital + hardcopy subscription options in partnership with Hein. Art Antiquity and Law is a Quarterly designed for all who value the cultural and historical environment. The principal aim of the Quarterly is to inform. It exists to tell those who work in the art and antiquity world about the law governing their […]

    Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page