Latest IAL News

NAGPRA Revisions Offer Hope

Posted on: January 16, 2023 by Stephanie Drawdy

In Addressing Cultural and Historic Injustices Against Native Americans In the last days of 1890, U.S. cavalry silenced the voices of approximately 250 Lakota at South Dakota’s Wounded Knee Creek during a murderous attack on the group that included a majority of women and children; opportunists then thieved their makeshift graves. The human remains and sacred […]

The year ahead

Posted on: January 9, 2023 by Alexander Herman

It is dangerous to make predictions. Too precise and they can be proved wrong. Too vague and they tend not to offer much of use. So it is a difficult line to tread… What do we have to expect from 2023 in the world of art law? If we consider the big developments from last […]

2022: Year in Review

Posted on: December 19, 2022 by Alexander Herman

2022 was a year of great change, both in the world at large and for art law in particular. We saw the end of most of the worst effects of the covid pandemic, accompanied by what appears to be a final farewell to the era of lockdowns. We saw war in Europe for the first […]

High Court dismisses claim over sale of Chardin painting

Posted on: December 13, 2022 by Michael Bowmer

The High Court has dismissed a multi-million pound negligence claim [Feilding & Anor. v. Simon C. Dickinson Limited [2022] EWHC 3091 (Ch)] brought by the Countess of Wemyss and her co-trustee against an art dealer over the sale of the painting “Le Bénédicité” by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin. The painting had been acquired by the Countess’s ancestors in […]

Shedding light on an opaque market: The latest anti-money laundering guidance for the UK art market

Posted on: December 8, 2022 by Julia Rodrigues Casella Hommes

The latest guidance on the anti-money laundering (AML) regulations as they pertain to the UK art market has finally brought about some much-needed clarification on some aspects of the regulations that had remained up until now somewhat difficult to comprehend and, more importantly, apply to day to day business. There are many aspects of the […]

The perpetual copyright protection of Italian cultural heritage: bypassing the public domain

Posted on: December 2, 2022 by Chiara Gallo

In recent weeks, Botticelli’s Birth of Venus appeared on the headlines of some of the most important news outlets, due to the allegedly ‘unauthorised’ commercial use of the famous masterpiece. The fashion house Jean Paul Gaultier is facing a suit for damages that could exceed £88,000 (€100,000) brought by the Uffizi, the oldest Florentine museum, […]

Latest issue of our journal Art Antiquity and Law available now

Posted on: November 26, 2022 by Ruth Redmond-Cooper

The latest issue of Art Antiquity and Law has now been published and hard copies are being sent to subscribers and members, with the digital version available online to subscribers who have chosen this option. This issue contains a thought-provoking piece by Alexander Herman in which he points out that the recent Charities Act 2022 […]

What next for London’s embattled Holocaust memorial?

Posted on: November 12, 2022 by Hugh Johnson-Gilbert

In January 2016, the then Prime Minister, David Cameron, announced that a national memorial to the Holocaust would be built in Victoria Tower Gardens (“the Gardens”), next to the Palace of Westminster. Mr Cameron committed to building “a striking national memorial… to show the importance Britain places on preserving the memory of the Holocaust”. The winning […]

IAL members’ event in partnership with Sotheby’s – Protecting the UK’s heritage

Posted on: November 5, 2022 by Emily Gould

An event held on 24th October in the inspiring surroundings of Sotheby’s Mayfair premises provided members of the IAL and friends of Sotheby’s with a fascinating insight into the challenges and opportunities involved in caring for heritage in the 21st century UK. The seminar brought together representatives from the public and private sectors to discuss […]

A North Carolina Filmmaker Continues to Challenge State Sovereign Immunity

Posted on: October 28, 2022 by Gina McKIveen

For nearly two decades, Rick Allen, an experienced underwater videographer and professional photographer, documented the retrieval and recovery process of an 18th century pirate shipwreck off the coast of North Carolina. A dispute over the copyright in the works produced between Allen and the State of North Carolina (the “State”) is now approaching its tenth […]