Cultural property : law, policy, and markets / Amnon Lehavi.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lehavi, Amnon, author.

Series:

Global law series.

Global law series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cultural property--Protection (International law).

Cultural property.

Cultural property--Protection--Law and legislation.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 275 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2026.

Summary:

While nations, societies, and individuals have always been engaged with both the tangible and intangible aspects of cultural objects, such as archaeological artifacts, artworks, and historical documents, the twenty-first century is seeing a significant shift in the law, ethics, and public policy that have long characterized this field. This book offers a comprehensive analysis of recent developments concerning cultural property. It identifies the underlying forces that drive these changes, focusing on the new political balance between source countries and market countries, the strengthening of cross-border lawmaking and law enforcement, the growing impact of provenance research and due diligence as legal, professional, and ethical norms, and the transformative role of digital databases. The book sets out normative principles for designing a better synergy of the hard law and soft law mechanisms that govern cultural property policy and markets. It proposes a property theory of ownership and custody of cultural objects and outlines a model of 'new cultural internationalism' to promote cross-border collaboration on cultural heritage, including new restitution frameworks.

Contents:

Cover

Half-title page

Series page

Title page

Copyright page

Contents

List of Figures

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I Drivers of Change in the World of Cultural Property

1 Changing Winds in the Cross-Border Politics of Cultural Property

1.1 The Benin Bronzes and Beyond

1.2 Introducing the Concept of "New Cultural Internationalism"

2 Lawmaking, Law Enforcement, and "Legalistic Ethical Reasoning"

2.1 Legal Divergence in a Global, High-End Market for Cultural Objects

2.1.1 The Market for Cultural Property: An Introductory Note

2.1.2 Divergence in Substantive and Procedural Private Law Doctrines

2.1.3 Incongruence between Private Law Doctrines and Public Policy

2.2 Evolution - and Limits - of International Institutions and Legal Norms

2.2.1 Instruments of Public International Law and Private International Law

2.2.2 Criminal Law: From the UNESCO Convention to the Nicosia Convention

2.2.3 The European Court of Human Rights Steps In: Getty v. Italy (2024)

2.3 Regional and Bilateral Collaboration in Law Enforcement

2.3.1 European Union: Export/Import Controls and Action Plan against Trafficking

2.3.2 The Growing (Over?)Reach of U.S. Law Enforcement

2.3.2.1 Federal and State Law in Action

2.3.2.2 Statue of a Draped Male Figure ("Marcus Aurelius")

2.3.2.3 Russian War Prisoner

2.4 Legalistic Ethical Reasoning for the Return of Cultural Property

3 The Evolution of Norms on Due Diligence and Provenance Research

3.1 Prologue: Provenance in Musée du Louvre, the Met, and Kunsthaus Zürich

3.2 Practices of Market Opacity

3.3 Due Diligence as a Legal, Professional, and Ethical Norm for Cultural Property

3.3.1 Due Diligence as a Legal Benchmark: Cross-Border Developments

3.3.2 Due Diligence and the Specific Protection of Cultural Property in National Laws.

3.3.3 Industry Changes: From an "ALR Certificate" to the "Responsible Art Market" Initiative

3.3.4 Due Diligence in Cultural Institutions: ICOM's Code of Ethics

3.4 The Changing Role and Scope of Provenance Research

3.4.1 Provenance as Showcasing an Object's "Career Highlights"

3.4.2 A Paradigm Shift: Addressing Dark Holes in Provenance for Nazi-Looted Art

3.4.2.1 The Road to the Washington Conference and Beyond

3.4.2.2 Germany: Government-Funded, Decentralized Research Conducted by Cultural Institutions

3.4.2.3 United States: Ad Hoc Provenance Inquiries Following Civil and Criminal Cases

3.4.2.4 Austria, France, the Netherlands: Central Agencies for Provenance Research

3.4.2.4.1 Austria

3.4.2.4.2 France

3.4.2.4.3 The Netherlands

3.4.3 Moving beyond Holocaust-Era Research: Colonial and Other Contexts

4 The Transformative Role of Digital Databases

4.1 Digital Benin

4.2 Digitally Accessible Databases on Cultural Property

4.2.1 International/National Databases for Crime Detection

4.2.2 Private Databases Offering Services for Due Diligence

4.2.3 Theme-Specific Databases: Nazi-Looted Assets and Colonial Contexts

4.2.3.1 The Lost Art Database and Other Holocaust-Era Databases

4.2.3.2 Databases on Colonial Contexts and Beyond

4.2.4 Academic and Professional Databases for Provenance Research

4.3 Cultural Property Databases as Cross-Border Standard-Setters

4.3.1 Facilitating Fact-Finding in Specific Disputes

4.3.2 Database Use as a Benchmark for Due Diligence and Similar Norms

4.3.3 Information-Sharing as a Basis for "Just and Fair Solutions"

4.3.4 Accessible Databases as Promoting a General Value of Transparency

Part II The Legal Future of Cultural Property: A Normative Blueprint

5 A Theory of Ownership and Custody of Cultural Objects.

5.1 Introduction: The Cultural Institution as Proprietor and Custodian

5.2 The Italian Case for Eternal Appropriation of Images of Cultural Property

5.3 Redefining the Museum: Implications for Its Role as Custodian of Culture

5.4 Toward a Theory of Proprietary Rights and Duties vis-à-vis Cultural Objects

5.4.1 Property Law Taxonomy of In Rem Rights and In Rem Duties

5.4.2 Cultural Institutions as Bearers of Proprietary Rights and Duties

5.4.2.1 Preliminary Notes on Subjects and Objects

5.4.2.2 Proprietary Control over a Physical Item vs. Control over Its Image

(1) Right of Cultural Institutions to Limit Others from Making Onsite Images or Copies

(2) Right of Cultural Institutions to Limit Others from Using Existing Images or Copies

(3) Duty of Cultural Institutions to Make Copies and Records of Cultural Items Accessible

5.4.2.3 Other Rights or Duties - And the Limits of Unjust Enrichment

5.5 Concluding Observations

6 Restitution for an Era of New Cultural Internationalism

6.1 Lessons from the Restitution Practices for Nazi-Looted Assets

6.2 "Just and Fair Solutions" in Other Contexts? France and Colonial-Era Objects

6.3 Reconsidering Remedial Mechanisms for Collective Claims

6.3.1 Restitution and Long-Term Loans

6.3.2 Digital Restitution

6.3.3 Introducing the Cross-Border Trust

6.4 Coda: Toward Convergence of Law, Policy, and Markets for Cultural Property

Index.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 14 Nov 2025).

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-009-44936-2

1-009-44935-4

1-009-44940-0

OCLC:

1569638637