Law Commons^™

Historical And Social Perspectives On The Regulation Of The International Trade In Archaeological Objects: The Examples Of Greece And India, Neil Brodie

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Two empirical studies of the trade in cultural material have shown that strong export controls work. Between 1820 and 1870, pre-unification Italian states with strong export controls in place retained more of their cultural heritage (measured in terms of paintings and antique books) than states with weak or no controls. Thefts from cultural institutions in the Czech Republic rose sharply after 1989, the year the "Iron Curtain" was raised; though this example also highlights the curtailment of civil liberties that might be necessary for strong export controls to work and that are probably unacceptable in a liberal society. '

This …

Adrift On A Sea Of Troubles: Cross-Border Art Loans And The Specter Of Ulterior Title, Norman Palmer

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The purpose of this Article is to show how modern law responds to such challenge. In particular, it examines the means by which common law systems manage the return of unlawfully removed cultural objects to dispossessed parties, and the implications of those means for international loan agreements. Regard is paid to the remedies that may be available in the aftermath of a claim, and the "self-help" devices that are available to lenders and borrowers. Some of the measures examined are peculiar to cultural objects, but others are general. Some have no direct relation to law, but work on voluntary regulation. …

A Choice-Of-Law Rule For Conflicts Involving Stolen Cultural Property, Symeon C. Symeonides

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Combating illicit trade in stolen cultural property is and will continue to be a serious problem. Of all the measures that various states can take in combating this trade, the adoption of a choice-of-law rule would rank very low in importance and effectiveness. Even if one thinks only in terms of legal rules, there is little question that international conventions and agreements, criminal and other public-law statutes, and uniform substantive rules would be far more direct and effective than choice-of-law rules. At the same time, these other rules are much more difficult to adopt precisely because they presuppose a degree …

Intellectual Property, Trade & Development: The State Of Play, Daniel J. Gervais

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article considers, first, available economic, social, and cultural analyses of the impact of intellectual property protection in developing countries. Economics provides a useful set of analytical tools and are directly relevant, in particular since the successfully arranged marriage of IP and trade rules after which it became inevitable that IP rules would be measured using an economic yardstick. The Paper also considers the claim that making proper intellectual property policy is impossible or inherently unreliable because theoretical models are inadequate or valid empirical data unavailable. Against this backdrop, the Article then examines the emergence of the World Trade Organization …

Towards A New Core International Copyright Norm: The Reverse Three-Step Test, Daniel J. Gervais

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This paper argues that international copyright treaties, such as the WTO TRIPS Agreement, should no longer be developed as sets of minimum standards with a standardized exception filter, namely the three-step test, but rather include a normative standard for the copyright rights themselves. In seeking harmony between rights and exceptions, and in light of copyright haphazard evolution (by simply adding new rights when a new way of using protected content was invented), a single new core norm is proposed: the reverse three-step test.

Symposium: International Legal Dimensions Of Art And Cultural Property, Jeffrey Schoenblum

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The market for art and cultural property is international. Demand is intense and not particularly local in terms of consumer preference. 2 Supply responds to this intense international demand. Like most anything else, art finds its way to whomever is prepared to pay for it. Regulation affects how it arrives at its ultimate destination, but generally does not prevent it from getting there. Apart from this international market, legal and policy aspects of art and cultural property have a distinctly international flavor due to historical circumstance. Since many works over time have been removed from their source by way of …