Tag Archives: legislation

Martyn’s Law Places New Requirements on Museums and Galleries

Posted on: July 3, 2023 by Lilian Palmer

On 2 May 2023, the government published the draft Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, which outlines the requirements that venues and other organisations will need to meet in order to ensure public safety and preparedness in case of a terrorist attack. The Bill, also known as Martyn’s Law as a tribute to Martyn Hett, one […]

Treasure, treasure everywhere – Government plans to update Treasure Act

Posted on: December 11, 2020 by Rebecca Hawkes-Reynolds

On Friday 2nd December 2020 it is likely that many archaeologists, curators and metal detectorists woke up pleased at the announcement from the Government that the definition of treasure for the Treasure Act 1996 will be revised. However, it is also equally probable that the same number were perplexed and worried as to how this […]

‘Embarrassingly out of kilter’ law destroys 46,000-year-old Aboriginal sacred sites

Posted on: June 17, 2020 by Elizabeth Pearson

The destruction of 46,000-year-old sacred Aboriginal rock shelters in Western Australia has prompted a national inquiry and calls for urgent reform of Indigenous cultural heritage law. During a mine expansion project, Rio Tinto detonated explosives in the Juukan Gorge in May, destroying two deep cave sites of the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura People (PKKP). […]

Tightening the screws against money laundering – will the art world be hung out to dry?

Posted on: February 4, 2019 by Emily Gould

It is rare that the somewhat dry and complex topic of anti-money laundering regulation hits the headlines in the art world. Introduce an A-list celebrity and a couple of paintings by names such as Basquiat and Picasso, however, and the stakes are raised. In June 2017 the online forum artnet news reported on an investigation […]

Copyright in AI works – what can we learn from our forebears?

Posted on: November 14, 2018 by Emily Gould

  Readers of this blog will have seen the post last week about Portrait of Edmond de Belamy, a piece of computer generated art created by the Obvious Collective through Artificial Intelligence, which recently sold at auction for USD 432,500. Amongst the challenges posed by AI technology for copyright law, is the question of how […]

Art and Copyright: what can we learn from the past?

Posted on: October 29, 2018 by Emily Gould

Who does the modern law of copyright seek to protect? We are familiar today with the claim that artistic copyright protects artists and, perhaps, users of copyright works. Roll back 150 years, to the nineteenth century, and artistic copyright was also understood in a number of other ways, which are long forgotten today. For instance, […]

A shredded Banksy…but still a Banksy?

Posted on: October 11, 2018 by Emily Gould

Following the excitement of the sale of the self-destructing Banksy last Friday night about which we reported on Monday, it has all gone rather quiet. We half-expected to hear more, perhaps from the aggrieved purchaser or maybe even from those ‘in the know’ to reassure us that it had all been one big hoax. Maybe […]

Banksy’s latest artwork: self-destruction

Posted on: October 8, 2018 by Alexander Herman

On Friday night in London, Sotheby’s auctioned off a ‘unique’ version of Banksy’s famous image of a young girl reaching for a red balloon. It was the last lot of the Contemporary Art auction in an important week for the London art market, with Frieze London having opened earlier that day. But just as the […]

Aboriginal Cultural Heritage: Legislative overhaul proposed in New South Wales, Australia

Posted on: May 13, 2018 by Elizabeth Pearson

Aboriginal cultural heritage law in New South Wales is facing its biggest reform in more than 40 years.  The State Government invited public comment and is currently considering submissions received on a draft bill to create a standalone Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act,[i] amid widespread agreement that legislative change is long overdue.[ii] Aboriginal and Torres Strait […]

Combating heritage crime: the international perspective

Posted on: August 9, 2017 by Emily Gould

As promised in our post last week, having looked at developments in the fight against heritage crime in the UK, we’re now turning our attention to the international context. We were considering in particular a number of interesting developments across a range of disciplines: the law, military practice, technology and community engagement. As regards the […]