Law Commons^™

Give Or Take—Is The Droit De Suite A Taking Without Just Compensation?, Jeremy Cohen

Pepperdine Law Review

The Constitution mandates Congress to protect the arts and sciences directly by creating an exclusive right called copyright. However, visual artists such as painters, sculptors, and photographers in the United States still cannot participate in the significant profits from the secondary sales of their copyrighted works at public and private auctions. In over eighty countries worldwide, the droit de suite, also known as the Artist Resale Royalty (ARR), grants visual artists such royalties. Unfortunately, the United States currently lacks such a royalty, despite multiple unsuccessful attempts by Congress to pass federal legislation. Although California enacted its own version of the …

Quantum Copyright Law: Schrödinger’S Cat, Banksy’S Shredder, And Art On The Edge, Richard Chused

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

An object has been assembled by artists I know that presents a fascinating set of conundrums about the relationships between quantum physics, shredders, random surprises, the value of art, and copyright law. Seems fantastical, right? And so it is. The object of concern is a metal box a little under four feet tall, about eighteen inches deep, and a bit less than three feet wide. The box is welded together along all twelve of its edges. It has an opening across one side. And there is a small control panel on top.

Before the box was welded shut, a set …

Creative Destruction: Copyright's Fair Use Doctrine And The Moral Right Of Integrity, Cathay Y. N. Smith

Pepperdine Law Review

This Paper explores the role of copyright’s fair use doctrine as a limit on the moral right of integrity. The moral right of integrity gives an author the right to prevent any distortion, modification, or mutilation of their work that prejudices their honor or reputation. Actions that have been found to violate an author’s moral right of integrity include, for instance, altering a mural by painting clothing over nude figures, selling separated panels of a single work of art, and displaying sculptures with holiday ribbons. At the same time, copyright’s fair use doctrine allows follow-on creators to transform original works …

Dealing With Laundering In The Swiss Art Market: New Legislation And Its Threat To Honest Traders, Katie L. Steiner

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

On January 1, 2016, new regulations took effect in Switzerland that impact the country's art market. The laws aim to close channels for laundering money and illicit antiquities within the art trade. Because the art market's opacity provides attractive conditions for launderers, Switzerland's new regulations introduce greater transparency in transactions for high-value works of art and in duty-free art-storage facilities, such as the Geneva freeport. The Geneva warehouse serves an international clientele of art collectors, who have traditionally stored works of art in the facility anonymously and indefinitely, without adverse tax consequences. The freeport provides essential services for honest collectors …

War And Passion: Who Keeps The Art?, Margaret M. Miles

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

Here, I would like to recall how and where ideas about repatriation, restitution, and proper ownership of art got started, a subject I have explored in detail elsewhere.

Blood Antiquities: Addressing A Culture Of Impunity In The Antiquities Market, Paul R. Williams, Christin Coster

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

For decades, parties to conflicts have used the cover of war to destroy and loot cultural property and antiquities for financial gain and symbolic victory. The "blood antiquities" excavated in conflict areas and sold mostly in western markets fuel not only continued conflict, but also (as in cases such as Syria and Iraq) terrorism that can reach around the world. The culture of impunity for both buyers and sellers of antiquities allows the blood-antiquities trade to thrive. A robust international legal framework does exist to ensure accountability for the destruction of cultural heritage. Because looting is a major cause of …

The Night Café Redux: A Study Of Sordidness, From Arles To The U.S. Courts, Allan Gerson

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

[T]o shed some light on the uncertainty that continues to surround The Night Café’s rightful ownership. Unfortunately, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals’ unpublished ruling, issued on October 20, 2015, that only adds to that uncertainty.

Talking Foreign Policy: Art, Diplomacy And Accountability, Michael P. Scharf

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

Michael P. Scharf, Paul R. Williams, Mark Ellis, William Schabas, Shannon French, and Milena Sterio discuss art and international law topics.

Broadcast quarterly, "Talking Foreign Policy" is a one-hour radio program hosted by Case Western Reserve University School of Law Co-Dean Michael Scharf in which experts discuss the salient foreign policy issues of the day. The broadcast on October 7, 2016, addressed international law and art.

In Museums We Trust: Analyzing The Mission Of Museums, Deaccessioning Policies, And The Public Trust, Sara Tam

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Theorization On Equity: Tracing Causal Responsibility For Missing Iraqi Antiquities And Piercing Official Immunity, Robert Bejesky

Pace International Law Review

Three weeks after the U.S.-led attack on Iraq, looters descended on the artifacts in the Iraq National Museum. Over ten thousand pieces were assumed destroyed or stolen, and the Coalition Provisional Authority estimated the losses at $12 billion. The gravity of the privation led the Security Council to include language in Resolution 1483 to restrict countries from trading in Iraq’s pillaged antiquities, and the U.S. Congress passed the Emergency Protection of Iraqi Cultural Antiquities Act of 2004 to enforce the measures. Several thousand pieces were recovered, but thousands remain missing. In March 2013, Hussein ash-Shamri, the head of the Iraqi …

Beyond Role Playing: Using Drama In Legal Education, Anne Scully-Hill, Paul Lam, Helen Yu

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Repatriating Cultural Property: The Dispute Between Yale And Peru Over The Treasures Of Machu Picchu, Stephanie Swanson

San Diego International Law Journal

The repatriation of cultural property is a controversial issue throughout the world, creating a sharp divide between states with a wealth of antiquities, such as Greece or Peru, and states which, lacking such extensive cultural property, have nonetheless built international museums housing the patrimony of other nations. The conflict surrounding the proper ownership of the Elgin marbles, probably the most famous dispute over cultural property, is but one example of many. In recent years, calls for the repatriation of cultural property have become increasingly common, involving world famous museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the J. Paul …

Globalization In Art Law: Clash Of Interests And International Tendencies, Erik Jayme

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In my view, it is important to articulate the different interests involved in international art cases. Globalization has added the interests of the global civil society to the traditional claims and counter claims of private parties and of states or nations. Thus, public access to art works has been fostered by anti-seizure statutes protecting international exhibitions. And, it is this line of tendencies and arguments which conceives of famous art works as treasures of mankind and which should prevail in the future.

Autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church Of Cyprus V. Goldberg And Feldman Fine Arts, Inc.: A Case For The Use Of Civil Remedies In Effecting The Return Of Stolen Art, Meredith Van Pelt

Penn State International Law Review

This Comment will explore the remedies currently available to foreign countries and to individuals who have discovered that works stolen from them are in the possession of American museums, art dealers, and private individuals. It will also explain why, in light of the recent decision of Autocephalous v. Goldberg, civil sanctions are the best means to effect the return of stolen art as well as to help deter future buyers of stolen art, thus shrinking the stolen art market.

Book Review, Albert P. Blaustein

Cleveland State Law Review

A book review of Leonard D. DuBoff, Deskbook of Art Law, Federal Publications, 1977.