Category Archives: Legislation

Is the Titanic struggle over?

Posted on: January 28, 2020 by Paul Stevenson

Everyone knows that the wreck of RMS Titanic is special. Media reports have confirmed as much over the past week, which has seen reports about the wreck site and a bespoke international compact relating to the ill-fated vessel make headlines. As media reports have confirmed, a treaty negotiated in 2003 (Agreement Concerning the Shipwrecked Vessel […]

New issue of Art Antiquity & Law available now

Posted on: January 16, 2020 by Julia Rodrigues Casella Hommes

As we leave behind the festive season, the latest issue of Art Antiquity & Law has just been released in time for you to start the new year with the latest in-depth analyses from the world of art and cultural heritage law. Adam Jomeen writes about street photography and compares the legal treatments afforded to […]

Combatting Money Laundering in the Art Trade: Changes for Europe and the UK

Posted on: January 10, 2020 by Julia Rodrigues Casella Hommes

Important changes are imminent for the art market as the 5th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive enters into force in the UK this Friday, the 10th of January 2020. The directive has been hurriedly transposed into UK law through the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2019, which were laid before Parliament on the 20th […]

US Restitution Suit Allowed to Proceed Against the Netherlands and Dutch Museums

Posted on: December 12, 2019 by Stephanie Drawdy

Towards the end of Second World War, Adolph Hitler received a birthday gift that likely made his heart swell with pride – a famous Rembrandt. The impact this gift had on a certain elderly woman interned in one of Hitler’s Dutch concentration camps is far more difficult to describe; the Old Master painting was her […]

Multi-million Dollar Award Under Appeal In Divisive 5Pointz Case

Posted on: November 28, 2019 by Stephanie Drawdy

Ninety days versus $6.75 million. That’s what the 5Pointz case currently on appeal in the US before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals boils down to. Twenty-one artists should have been given a ninety-day notice to remove their art from the façade of a real estate developer’s property before he whitewashed the works, according to the […]

“MAY RESULT IN LEGAL ACTION” ©TM : THE NEW BANKSY?

Posted on: November 21, 2019 by Adam Jomeen

Banksy’s well-known quip from 2005 that “Copyright is for losers ©TM” is perhaps more widely attributed than many of his artworks.  Disputes with an Italian museum and a UK greetings card company over the past year suggest a shift, however, in his historically laissez-faire attitude to the commercialisation of his work by unauthorised third parties.  […]

The debate continues… High court dismisses challenge to the Ivory Act 2018 but permission to appeal granted

Posted on: November 19, 2019 by Charlotte Dunn

As previously noted in the IAL blog, the recent challenge to the Ivory Act 2018 has continued an ongoing debate over the UK government’s decision to impose a stricter ban on the trade in elephant ivory. (See earlier reports here and here). On the 5th of November 2019, Mr Justice Jay handed down his High […]

To quote or not to quote – that is the question

Posted on: November 7, 2019 by Alexander Herman

As those who have followed our courses (especially our IP Diploma) will know, a big fanfare is often made about the possibilities of the ‘quotation’ exception introduced into UK copyright law five years ago. For institutions that are often users of copyright-protected material, like museums, galleries, archives and libraries, the new exception came with a […]

New issue of IAL’s Art Antiquity and Law journal just released

Posted on: October 24, 2019 by Julia Rodrigues Casella Hommes

Marking the beginning of a new academic year, the latest issue of Art Antiquity & Law, IAL’s quarterly journal, is hot off the press and brings a number of articles ranging from topics such as musical instruments and their legal framework to arbitration, art theft, export of cultural goods and the repatriation claims for the […]

Japanese Museum claims title to the Reynolds painting stolen in UK

Posted on: October 1, 2019 by Makoto Shimada

According to recent articles in the Antiques Trade Gazette, Art Newspaper and several other English papers, a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds stolen in the UK has ended up in Japan at the collection of the Fuji Tokyo Art Museum (“the Museum”). The Museum claims that it purchased the work with valid title. Facts In […]