Author Archives: Emily Gould

About Emily Gould

Emily Gould is Assistant Director of the Institute of Art and Law. She writes, teaches and presents on a range of areas pertaining to art and cultural heritage law including copyright, heritage crime, museum ethics and contracts.

Collaboration thrives in the Nordic region

Posted on: November 5, 2019 by Emily Gould

The IAL was delighted to be invited to share some thoughts on current issues in art and cultural heritage law with museum professionals from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden in the bi-annual Nordic Registrars’ Group meeting. The conference was held last month, on October 22nd and 23rd in the inspiring surroundings of ARoS Art Museum […]

ICOM postpones vote on new ‘museum’ definition

Posted on: September 9, 2019 by Emily Gould

What is the role of the museum in 21st century society? Not a simple question, certainly, but one which a standing committee of ICOM, the International Council of Museums, has been actively considering for almost a year in pursuit of a new way of defining a ‘museum’. The process was intended to have reached its […]

Art loans: a linchpin for the sector in challenging times?

Posted on: September 5, 2019 by Emily Gould

It’s not often that the topic of art loans makes headline news, even in the cultural sector. Although loans of works of art and cultural artefacts represent the lifeblood of many institutions across the globe, they generally proceed under the radar, with little fuss or fanfare. The occasional blockbuster exhibition might attract press comment, drawing […]

Action on climate change: the voices of protest and the cultural sector’s response

Posted on: August 15, 2019 by Emily Gould

The ever-increasing volume of the call for urgent action on climate change is unlikely to have passed many readers by over recent months. From school strikes to mass demonstrations, the rise to fame of young climate activist Greta Thunberg and the ongoing ‘war on plastics’, the topic rarely fails to make headline news. It is […]

New sentencing guidelines for criminal damage offences in the UK

Posted on: July 17, 2019 by Emily Gould

From 1st October 2019, damage to heritage assets will, for the first time, be a factor courts must take into account when sentencing those convicted of certain arson and criminal damage offences. Following a recent consultation, the UK Sentencing Council published new guidelines on 3rd July, intended to enable courts take full account of the harm […]

News from the latest IAL Study Forum

Posted on: July 8, 2019 by Emily Gould

A fascinating day was enjoyed by all who braved London’s hottest day so far this year to attend IAL’s latest Study Forum held on 29th June. Topics ranged from the origins of modern copyright law to international laws on restitution to the treatment of human remains. Dr Elena Cooper (Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, CREATe) gave a […]

New Money Laundering Directive – plans for the UK

Posted on: June 17, 2019 by Emily Gould

Readers may recall our post a few months ago focused on the problem of money laundering in the art trade, and in particular, the adoption by the European Parliament of the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5MLD), to be implemented by Member States by 10th January 2020. In anticipation of the implementation in the UK, the Government, […]

Copyright and lessons from the past

Posted on: June 10, 2019 by Emily Gould

Dr Elena Cooper is an IAL member and the author of Art and Modern Copyright: The Contested Image (CUP, 2018). She will be speaking at a forthcoming IAL Study Forum on 29th June 2019. In the meantime, she writes below on the intriguing topic of the development of copyright law, and how it reflects changes […]

Mixed fortunes for art in the UK’s regions

Posted on: June 6, 2019 by Emily Gould

“Interesting and challenging times” was how the UK Museums Association Director, Sharon Heal, described the current climate for the sector in her introduction to the Association’s Annual Report last year. No more acutely are those challenges felt than by the UK’s regional museums, many of which are run by local authorities. Over half of these […]

Protecting cultural heritage: a lawyer’s view

Posted on: April 29, 2019 by Emily Gould

In the most recent of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum’s excellent Culture in Crisis lecture series, Leila Amineddoleh, New York-based art and cultural heritage lawyer, shared some fascinating insights into stories of theft, looting and restitution through the ages in a talk last Thursday, 25th April 2019. Leila practices in the art law field and […]