Showing results 85 - 96 of 109 for the tag: Legal action.

December 4, 2009

Nazi looted artefacts in the UK can now return home

Posted at 1:41 pm in British Museum, Similar cases

Further coverage of the new law passed to allow the return of artefacts looted during the Nazi era held in UK museums. If this law had been in place previously, it would have avoided such (unsuccessful) court cases as Attorney General v Trustees of the British Museum AKA the Feldmann Case.

It will be interesting to see how many cases now come to light following the passing of this new law (to take a cynical point of view, it could be argued that the law was only passed because certain interested parties knew that there were only a very small number of items in their collections that were likely to be affected by it).

From:
BBC News

Page last updated at 14:06 GMT, Friday, 13 November 2009
UK museums can return looted art

Artefacts in national museums found to have been looted by the Nazis can now be returned to their rightful owners, thanks to newly-passed legislation.

The Holocaust (Stolen Art) Restitution Act gives national institutions in England and Scotland the power to return art stolen during the Nazi era.
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July 21, 2009

What’s in a name? Who owns the Rosetta Stone

Posted at 12:39 pm in British Museum, Similar cases

In a case that only tenuously relates to restitution claims, a software manufacturer is involved in legal action with Google over the fact that other companies may be taking out adverts that are set to appear when the name of their business is entered in a search. What makes this semi-relevant though is that the name of the company is Rosetta Stone – so one would have thought that at present any actual ownership claimed on the name might belong to the British Museum. Of course though this is not the end of the cycle either – Egypt disputes the British Museum’s ownership of the stone & as such would have the rights to the name of the stone.

The question that this raises, is what gives others the right to re-appropriate a term & call it their own, to the extent of trying to prevent others from using it – a situation not dis-similar from the British Museum’s current claims that artefacts such as the Rosetta Stone are now integral to their own collections & therefore can not be returned to their true owners.

From:
Telecom TV

Google v. Rosetta Stone: the case of the stolen words
Posted By TelecomTV One , 17 July 2009

What’s in a word? Often a lot of money for a start. And where there’s money there’s lawyers. And where there’s lawyers there is, sometimes, a measure of clarity. By Ian Scales.

At least the issues get a good outing. The Google v. Rosetta Stone case is currently raging in the US courts and it’s about when and to what extent a word could or should be controlled by those who claim it as a trademark.
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June 30, 2009

Greek culture minister rules out legal action over the Elgin Marbles

Posted at 7:12 pm in Elgin Marbles, Similar cases

In articles published today, Greek Culture Minister Antonis Samaras appears to have ruled out that any form of legal action will form part of the government’s strategy to reclaim the Parthenon Marbles. It is not clear from this whether or not it is an option that they have seriously considered.

Having seen the success of legal action by Italy in securing the return of disputed artefacts, ignoring this option completely seems like a mistake. Whilst it is clearly not an appropriate solution in every instance, it was only once the Italian Government began proceedings involving various institutions that the restitution claims were taken seriously. If there is no pressure in a claim, it is all to easy for institutions such as the British Museum to hang on to artefacts whilst making little effort to even respond properly to return requests.

From:
The Press Association

Legal fight over marbles ruled out
11 hours ago

Greece’s culture minister said he is not planning to go to court to get back the Elgin Marbles from Britain.

Antonis Samaras says the new Acropolis Museum will boost Greece’s bid for the Parthenon sculptures, which British diplomat Lord Elgin took from the site 200 years ago.
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April 3, 2009

Allowing the return of looted art to its owners

Posted at 1:01 pm in British Museum, Similar cases

More coverage of the proposed new law in Britain allowing restitution of artworks looted during the Nazi era.

From:
Britain News

UK ministers planning to return art looted by Nazis to owners
Britain News.Net
Sunday 29th March, 2009 (ANI)

London, Mar 29 : Ministers in Britain are all set to support a new law that would allow museums in the country to return artwork looted by the Nazis to Holocaust survivors and their descendants.

The bill, named the Holocaust (stolen art) restitution bill, would change the legislation that forbids national museums and galleries, including the British Museum, British Library and National Gallery, from disposing of items in their collections.
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The Holocaust (stolen art) Restitution Bill

Posted at 12:45 pm in British Museum, Similar cases

More coverage on the proposed changes in the law that will increase the opportunities for museums in Britain to deaccession artefacts if they feel that there is a need to do so.

From:
Daily Telegraph

Art looted by Nazis to be returned to owners
Art works looted by the Nazis could be returned to Holocaust survivors and their descendants under plans by ministers
By Alastair Jamieson
Last Updated: 11:19AM GMT 28 Mar 2009

A government bill would soften a long-standing ban on museums selling items of national importance in their collections.

The Holocaust (stolen art) Restitution Bill would allow curators to return paintings and other artefacts to families who did not wish them to remain in national collections.
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April 2, 2009

New law to allow return of Nazi loot

Posted at 1:01 pm in British Museum, Similar cases

After extensive consultation & deliberations, it seems that attempts to change the law in Britain to allow the restitution of artefacts looted during the nazi era may finally be coming to fruition with Andrew Dismore’s Holocaust (stolen art) restitution bill. I have mentioned before about some of the contradictory aspects of the proposed law, which though welcomed highlights the need for consistent legislation to cover all artefacts rather than creating special cases.

From:
The Guardian

Plan for art looted by Nazis to be returned to owners
Jenny Percival
The Guardian, Saturday 28 March 2009

Ministers are preparing to back a new law that would allow museums to restore artwork looted by the Nazis to Holocaust survivors and their descendants.

The Holocaust (stolen art) restitution bill would reverse legislation that bans national museums and galleries, including the British Museum, British Library and National Gallery, from disposing of items in their collections. Ministers have been promising to change the law for a decade and, after attempts to introduce a government bill collapsed, are preparing to support a private members’ bill introduced by Andrew Dismore, the Labour MP for Hendon.
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March 13, 2009

Bulgarian court rules on looted artefact

Posted at 5:48 pm in Greece Archaeology, Similar cases

A court in Bulgaria has ruled to allow the confiscation of some Byzantine plates currently in Greek Museums that they believe were obtained from illegal excavations. Greece is normally on the other side of disputes such as this – it will be interesting to see if they apply the same rationale to their response as they do to their own restitution requests.

From:
Balkan Travellers

BalkanTravellers.com
12 March 2009
Bulgarian court ruling

A Bulgarian court recently ruled for the confiscation of the nine Byzantine plates purchased by three Greek museums in Greece in 2004.

The confiscation is possible on the basis of a special EU law, which Greece has not yet adopted, according to the Kathimerini newspaper.
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March 10, 2009

YSL artefacts raise questions about art auctions

Posted at 12:31 pm in Similar cases

In an increasingly globalised economy, auction houses are finding themselves caught in the middle of disputes over cultural property.
This is not something that they can easily ignore though, as te disputes often involve countries as well as individuals – countries that these same auction houses also want to operate within.

From:
The Independent

Auctioneers ‘hit in China bronzes row’
By James Pomfret and Ben Blanchard, Reuters
Tuesday, 10 March 2009

The heated row over Christie’s sale of looted Chinese bronze animal heads in Paris is being closely watched by key art market players for possible signs of a broader fallout.

Since Christie’s ignored protests from Beijing and last month auctioned off a pair of bronze rat and rabbit heads which were stolen from the Old Summer Palace in 1860, Chinese authorities have slapped strict checks on all future imports and exports by Christie’s, making it potentially more difficult to source top relics.
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March 8, 2009

The Chinese bronzes & Gandhi’s glasses

Posted at 12:16 pm in Similar cases

Two recent auctions of disputed cultural property have drawn media attention to items that few people knew about previously. In both cases though, an added dimension has been created by attempts by the selling party to agree some sort of conditions under which they might be able to solve the dispute. This could be seen as an implicit acknowledgement that the restitution claims carry a level of validity, but in each case it has been used as a means to try & push a political agenda.

Standing back from the cases & temporarily setting aside the way in which the artefacts were acquired, it comes across as artefacts being taken, but then they can be returned to the original owners if they meet certain conditions. One has to ask, whether it is right for these selling parties to try & grab some small chunk of moral high ground (that they are prepared to negotiate – return the artefacts) where in reality they are holding the pieces to ransom as a means of trying to resolve other entirely unrelated issues. Whether or not the issues need to be resolved should not be the question & the setting of arduous preconditions to negotiations is merely a means of avoiding discussions that the sellers were never really interested in in the first place. The British Museum has in the past tried to attach similar preconditions to entering negotiations on the Elgin Marbles – as a barrier to prevent any sort of negotiations taking place.

From:
MSNBC

Chinese bronzes, Gandhi’s glasses in art tussle
updated 8:47 p.m. ET March 8, 2009
Art auctions becoming battlegrounds over rights to world’s culture

LONDON – A bronze rabbit’s head was the first to go under the hammer, then came Mohandas Gandhi’s glasses and sandals.

Auctions are becoming a new battleground for art dealers, activists and aggrieved countries dueling for plundered antiquities and lost pieces of heritage.
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March 6, 2009

The techniques used to secure return of looted artefacts

Posted at 11:51 am in Similar cases

Different countries have in recent years used a wide range of techniques to try & secure the return of disputed artefacts. Some of these approaches have had more success than others.

From:
South China Morning Post

Countries go to greater lengths to get looted treasures back
5 Mar 2009
South China Morning Post

China is not the only nation that wants missing relics back and many countries employ different means to retrieve them, write Tim Johnson and Julie Sell

Cambodia, are barely able to halt the plunder of sites like the ancient Angkor temples complex.
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February 21, 2009

Yves Saint Lauren, China & the son of Lord Elgin

Posted at 12:09 pm in Similar cases

Despite attempts by China to block the sale of artefacts looted from Beijing & now in the collection of the late Yves Saint Lauren, the sale is still due to proceed.

A new & bizarre twist in the story is added by the seller’s offer to trade the artefacts in exchange for recognising human rights within China.

From:
Christian Science Monitor

China protests Christie’s auction in Paris of relics
Legal efforts to retrieve two bronzes looted by Western troops in 1860 may fail. Another option: let wealthy donors buy them back.
By Peter Ford | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the February 20, 2009 edition

Beijing – A rat and a rabbit, emerging from a century and a half of peaceful seclusion, have found themselves in the eye of an international storm about their future, and the proper fate of looted artworks.

Once upon a time, the two animal heads, cast in bronze, adorned a water clock fountain in the Chinese emperor’s Summer Palace here. They were plundered when British and French troops ransacked and burned the palace buildings in 1860.
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February 17, 2009

Brighton’s reluctance to return Aboriginal Skull

Posted at 12:02 pm in Similar cases

Continuing coverage of the fact that Brighton’s Booth Museum of Natural History have decided not to return an artefact that is made from human remains. The Australian government is now intervening in the issue, in the hope of finding a way of settling the issue.

From:
Canberra Times

British council reluctant to release Aboriginal skull
17/02/2009 10:39:00 AM

The Australian government has intervened in a bid to get an Aboriginal skull returned to Australia and avoid a potential diplomatic row.

Museum bosses in England want to keep the skull, which has been turned into a water carrier, because it is extremely rare.
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