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Full-Text Articles in Law
Who "Owns" A Cultural Treasure?, Jason Y. Hall
Who "Owns" A Cultural Treasure?, Jason Y. Hall
Michigan Law Review
Because of the thoughtfulness of its arguments, the range and depth of its presentation of specific cases, and the fairness with which it reveals, thinks through, and allows some validity to opposing points of view, Playing Darts with a Rembrandt is a valuable contribution to understanding which parties have, and should have, rights in key objects that comprise our collective heritage. That I am not persuaded by some of the specific arguments in the book in no way reduces my admiration for what it accomplishes.
Casting Light On Cultural Property, John J. Costonis
Casting Light On Cultural Property, John J. Costonis
Michigan Law Review
Theorists of private property invite comparison to theorists of light. For centuries, the latter have debated whether light is best understood as a wave or as a photon. The rivalry has been intense because each hypothesis explains some characteristics of light very well, but others very poorly. Wave theory outstrips photon theory in explaining such phenomena as light's frequencies and diffraction patterns. But photon theory, which reduces light to a succession of particles, more effectively explains such subatomic phenomena as changes in an atom's orbital shell produced by the interaction of photons and electrons. Property theorists too can be viewed …
When It’S Ok To Sell The Monet: A Trustee-Fiduciary-Duty Framework For Analyzing The Deaccessioning Of Art To Meet Museum Operating Expenses, Jennifer L. White
When It’S Ok To Sell The Monet: A Trustee-Fiduciary-Duty Framework For Analyzing The Deaccessioning Of Art To Meet Museum Operating Expenses, Jennifer L. White
Michigan Law Review
Contrary to the view adopted by current codes of ethics, this Note argues that courts should approve a museum director's use of proceeds from the sale of deaccessioned art to meet operating expenses if the director's conduct comports with the duties of trustees under the law of trusts. Part I explores possible organizational structures for museums, including the charitable trust and the nonprofit corporation. Part I also compares the fiduciary duties of museum managers under trust and corporate law. Part II argues that courts should apply trust-law principles both to trustees of charitable trusts and directors of charitable corporations26 because …
Heritage Preservation As A Public Duty: The Abbé Grégoire And The Origins Of An Idea, Joseph L. Sax
Heritage Preservation As A Public Duty: The Abbé Grégoire And The Origins Of An Idea, Joseph L. Sax
Michigan Law Review
Public responsibility for the conservation of artifacts of historic or aesthetic value is now acknowledged everywhere. One way or another the state will ensure preservation of a Stonehenge or a Grand Canyon as well as a great many lesser cultural icons. We have names for such things - "heritage" and "cultural property" are two of them; "patrimony" is a European counterpart - but these words have no very specific meaning. Many, but by no means all, of the objects we feel constrained to protect are old. They include human artifacts as well as natural objects or places. Though it is …
Thinking About The Elgin Marbles, John Henry Merryman
Thinking About The Elgin Marbles, John Henry Merryman
Michigan Law Review
In the early nineteenth century, a British Lord removed much of the sculpture from the Parthenon and shipped it to England. Housed in the British Museum and named after their exporter, the Elgin Marbles have become a source of international controversy. The Greeks wish to see the Marbles returned to the Acropolis and their position is supported by a growing movement seeking the repatriation of cultural property. The Elgin Marbles are representative of the many works of art in the world's museums and private collections that could be subject to repatriation. Rejecting the emotional appeal of the Greek position, Professor …