Latest IAL News

A Round-Up of Recent Historic Environment Developments

Posted on: March 27, 2020 by Rebecca Hawkes-Reynolds

The fate of Stonehenge and the A303 has reared its ugly head again, or perhaps not. When the Chancellor announced the Budget on 11 March 2020 he confirmed the Government’s continued commitment to the Stonehenge scheme, saying it is “going to get it done”. However, this does not mean the scheme has been given the […]

An update on the Crimean Treasures in Amsterdam

Posted on: March 24, 2020 by Emilie Huisman-van Essen

Still pending in The Netherlands is the interesting case of the Crimean Treasures. After the Court of First Instance had ordered the repatriation of the museum objects to the Ukraine based on the 1970 UNESCO Convention, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal reversed that decision in an interim judgment of 16 July 2019. A recap of […]

Arts Council England appoints IAL to develop new guidance on restitution and repatriation

Posted on: March 19, 2020 by Kiri Cragin Folwell

On Monday 16 March, Arts Council England announced the appointment of the Institute of Art and Law (IAL) to develop new guidance for museums on the restitution and repatriation of cultural objects. The guidance, which will be published in Autumn 2020, will aim to encourage a more proactive and coordinated approach across UK museums by […]

5Pointz appeal marks quantum shift in U.S. copyright law

Posted on: March 18, 2020 by Stephanie Drawdy

The appeal of a multi-million dollar award in favor of a group of artists that made headlines in 2018 was recently decided by a U.S. appeals court. The question looming for the last two years in the precedential case known as 5Pointz: would a New York developer be required to pay over $6 million in […]

IAL in New York City – Event on international exhibitions

Posted on: March 11, 2020 by Alexander Herman

Bright lights, big city. On 27 February, the IAL partnered with the Art Law Committee and European Affairs Committee of the New York City Bar Association to present an event on international art exhibitions in New York. The proceedings ran in the Main Hall of the Bar’s neo-classical headquarters on West 44th Street in midtown […]

UK Guidance on Anti-Money Laundering released for the art market

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

The highly anticipated guidance on implementing and complying with the new anti-money laundering rules for the art trade was finally released a few weeks ago. The lengthy document, which totals over 100 pages, was in fact prepared by the British Art Market Federation (BAMF), and has received formal approval by the HMRC. As such, it […]

Alexander Herman interviewed by The Art Newspaper about continuing developments in the Parthenon Marbles debate

Posted on: March 3, 2020 by Charlotte Dunn

Alexander Herman, IAL’s Assistant Director, was interviewed last month by The Art Newspaper for its weekly podcast to address the ongoing debate over ‘Who owns the Parthenon Marbles?’. In the interview, Alex discusses the recently leaked draft EU document which has raised speculation over whether the marbles could be drawn into deliberations about the future […]

IAL heads to York for latest Study Forum

Posted on: February 27, 2020 by Charlotte Dunn

For the latest IAL Study Forum on 22nd February, we headed to York for a day of fascinating talks covering topics which ranged from planning and property law to issues of censorship and copyright. We began the day with a welcome from IAL’s Assistant Director Alex Herman and Professor Michael White, Head of the University […]

Renewed search for one of Spain’s “greatest treasure galleons”

Posted on: February 25, 2020 by Paul Stevenson

Media reports this month claim that almost four centuries after the ill-fated galleon Nuestra Señora del Juncal (“the Juncal”), a Spanish naval vessel, sank off the Mexican coast in a storm in October 1631, researchers from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History and Spain’s National Museum of Underwater Archaeology are to undertake a 10-day […]

Heated U.S. restitution suit continues over long-lost Modigliani valued at approximately $30 million

Posted on: February 21, 2020 by Stephanie Drawdy

Pit a billionaire art collector against a French farmer, add in a mysterious offshore company and a Modernist painting confiscated by the Nazis and missing for over a half-century and – voilà – you have the makings of a highly contentious lawsuit. Those are the facts swirling in an ongoing case involving Seated Man With […]