Books: General

• Ben-Dor, Oren (editor), Law and Art: Justice, Ethics and Aesthetics (August 2011) (ISBN: 9780415560214). “In engaging with the full range of the arts, contributors to this volume consider the relationship between law, justice, the ethical and the aesthetic…. The insights presented in this collection disturb and supplement conventional accounts of justice, inaugurating new possibilities for addressing the origin of violence in our world.” Available for purchase here.

• Blake, Janet, International Cultural Heritage Law (August 2015) (ISBN: 978-0-19-872351-6). “Providing both a perfect introduction to cultural heritage law and deeper reflection on its challenges, this book should be invaluable for students, scholars, and practitioners in the field. The book provides a comprehensive overview of the development of international cultural heritage law and policy since 1945. It sets out the international (including regional) law currently governing the protection and safeguarding of cultural heritage in peace time, as well as international cultural policy-making. In addition to analyzing the relevant legal frameworks, it focuses on the broader policy and other contexts within which and in response to which this law has developed.” Available for purchase here.

• Boesch, Bruno and Sterpi, Massimo (editors), The Art Collecting Legal Handbook (May 2013) (ISBN: 9780414026933). “Each chapter of The Art Collecting Manual addresses a number of issues from the perspective of a different jurisdiction to help collectors [from] making errors that could be potentially illegal. The format of the chapters follow a question and answer style thus enabling readers to make quick and accurate comparisons in multiple jurisdictions covering property law, insurance, customs, tax, inheritance, intellectual property and more.” Available for purchase here.

• Bressler, Judith and Lerner, Ralph, Art Law: The Guide for Collectors, Investors, Dealers & Artists (January 2013) (ISBN-13: 978-1402418884). This publication “includes a host of step-by-step, field-tested checklists and a vast storehouse of adaptable model agreements involving collectors and dealers, artists and dealers, and dealers and dealers, as well as forms for appraisals, property exchanges, tax-free exchanges, loans and promised gifts from artists estates, dealings with auction houses, private and public commissions, and museum donations.” Available for purchase here.

• Chechi, Alessandro, The Settlement of International Cultural Heritage Disputes (May 2014) (ISBN: 9780198703990). This book “provides a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the issues created by current system governing the settlement of cultural heritage disputes; Examines in detail the applicable legal regimes and dispute settlement procedures, assessing the merits and drawbacks of the governing national and international norms; Offers innovative solutions to the problem of fragmentation within settlements of cultural heritage disputes by focusing on rethinking existing fora and on evolving principles and rules.” Available for purchase here.

• Colwell, Chip, Plundered Skulls and Stolen Spirits: Inside the Fight to Reclaim Native America’s Culture (March 2017) (ISBN:978-0226298993). Who owns the past and the objects that physically connect us to history? And who has the right to decide this ownership, particularly when the objects are sacred or, in the case of skeletal remains, human? Is it the museums that care for the objects or the communities whose ancestors made them? These questions are at the heart of Plundered Skulls and Stolen Spirits, an unflinching insider account by a leading curator who has spent years learning how to balance these controversial considerations. Available for purchase here.

• Crawford, Tad, Business and Legal Forms for Illustrators (February 2016) (ISBN:978-1621534884). As a handy resource, containing twenty-nine of the most commonly used business and legal forms likely to be used by today’s illustrators. Available for purchase here.

• DuBoff, Leonard D., Murray, Michael D. & Burr, Sherri, Art Law: Cases and Materials (April 2010) (ISBN: 978-0735596580). “Designed as a primary text for courses on Law and the Visual Arts, Cultural Property Law, or Cultural Heritage Law, the three-part framework of this highly readable casebook explores Artists’ Rights, Art Markets, and the International Preservation of Art and Cultural Property. ” Available for purchase here.

• Gerstenblith, Patty, Art, Cultural Heritage, and the Law: Cases and Materials (July 2012) (ISBN: 978-1611632040). This comprehensive legal casebook “addresses artists’ rights (freedom of expression, copyright, and moral rights); the functioning of the art market (dealers and auction houses, warranties of quality and authenticity, transfer of title and recovery of stolen art works, and the role of museums), and finally cultural heritage (the fate of art works and cultural objects in time of war, the international trade in art works and cultural objects, the historic, archaeological and underwater heritage of the United States, and indigenous cultures, focusing on restitution of Native American cultural objects and human remains, and appropriation of indigenous culture).” Available for purchase here.

• Harrison, Martin, Francis Bacon: Catalogue Raisonné  (June 2016) (ISBN:978-0956927316). Sanctioned by the estate of Francis Bacon, this catalogue is the result of over a decade of work from editor Martin Harrison. Available for purchase here.

• Hick, Darren Hudson & Schumücker, Reinold (editors), The Aesthetics and Ethics of Copying (December 2017 (ISBN: 978-1350056077) Brings the topic of copying into the philosophical domain for the first time, highlighting its philosophical relevance and establishing the aesthetic, ethical, and legal factors underlying the question of copying in the 21st century. Available for purchase here.

• Jakubowski, Andrzej, State Succession in Cultural Property (June 2015) (ISBN: 9780198738060). This book “provides the first comprehensive analysis of the peculiarities of cultural property as an object of state succession; gives an in depth and broad ranging study of primary sources of international practice of state succession in matters of cultural property; offers de lege ferenda and details of best practice in cultural heritage protection after state succession.” Available for purchase here.

• Jones, Michael E., Art Law: A Concise Guide for Artists, Curators, and Art Educators, (June 2016) (ISBN:978-1442263154). A practical guide for students and professionals within many disciplines, covering topics such as acquisitions, grants and purchasing. Available for purchase here.

• Kearns, Paul, Freedom of Artistic Expression: Essays on Culture and Legal Censure (October 2013) (ISBN: 978-1841130804). “Paul Kearns explores the problems associated with censorship, both from philosophical and legal perspectives, and focuses on the various ways in which the morality of art is legally regulated in different jurisdictions. US law, English law, French law, the law of the European Convention on Human Rights, EU law, and public international law are all closely scrutinized to discover the extent to which they offer protection for artistic freedom. Kearns also examines domestic and international law in respect to artists’ moral rights, the law of copyright, and related laws.” Available for purchase here.

• Kline, Fred R., Leonardo’s Holy Child: The Discovery of a Leonardo da Vinci Masterpiece: A Connoisseur’s Search for Lost Art in America (May 2016) (ISBN: 978-1605989792). After purchasing a work that was then discovered to be by Leonardo da Vinci, Kline begins a journey “all over the world to [discover] how exactly attributions work with regards to the old masters (most of their works are unsigned). Kline also sheds light on the idea of “connoisseurship,” an often-overlooked facet of art history that’s almost Holmesian in its intricacy and specificity. Available for purchase here.

• Lazerow, Herbert, Mastering Art Law (December 2014) (ISBN: 978-1594609176). “This book tracks all published art law casebooks. It begins by asking what art is, and why there should be special rules for it.” “This book is part of the Carolina Academic Press Mastering Series edited by Russell L. Weaver, University of Louisville School of Law.” Available for purchase here.

• Manderson, Desmond, Law and the Visual: Representations, Technologies, and Critique (May 2018) (ISBN: 978-1442630314). In Law and the Visual, leading legal theorists, art historians, and critics come together to present new work examining the intersection between legal and visual discourses. Proceeding chronologically, the volume offers leading analyses of the juncture between legal and visual culture as witnessed from the fifteenth to the twenty-first centuries. Editor Desmond Manderson provides a contextual introduction that draws out and articulates three central themes: visual representations of the law, visual technologies in the law, and aesthetic critiques of law. Available for purchase here.

• Merryman, John Henry, Urice, Stephen K. &Elsen, Albert E., Law, Ethics and the Visual Arts (January 2007) (ISBN: 978-9041125170). “This new and newly illustrated, fifth edition, revised in collaboration with Stephen K. Urice, incorporates recent changes in treaty, statutory, and case law. It includes discussion of recent developments from the resurgence of iconoclasm to military conflicts’ depredations on cultural property. As in earlier editions, the authors present legal issues in their historical contexts.” Available for purchase here.

• Meyer, Karl E. & Brysac, Shareen Blair, The China Collectors: America’s Century-Long Hunt for Asian Art Treasures (March 2015) (ISBN: 978-1137279767). The authors consider whether the century-long treasure hunt in China (from the Opium Wars to Mao Zedong’s ascent) constituted looting or salvaging, and whether it was ethical to spirit these objects westward to be studied and preserved by trained museum personnel. How should the U.S., Canada and their museums act now that China has the means and will to reclaim its lost heritage? Available for purchase here.

• Prowda, Judith B., Visual Arts and the Law: A Handbook for Professionals (Handbooks in International Art Business) (July 2013) (ISBN: 978-1848220867). The topics addressed include: freedom of expression and controversial art, rights of privacy and publicity, copyright, moral rights, artist resale rights, the artist-dealer relationship, commissions, auctions, expert opinions (appraisal and authentication) and title problems and stolen art. Available for purchase here.

• Ray, Kevin, Art & Business: Transactions in Art and Cultural Property (August 2017) (ISBN: 978-1634256698). An expansive (and expensive) examination of today’s art transactions from an art lawyer’s point of view, covering topics such as forgeries, titles and warranties. Available for purchase here. REVIEWED.

• Rimmer, Matthew (editor), Indigenous Intellectual Property (December 2015) (ISBN: 978 1 78195 589 5). This handbook is a compilation of contributions from experts in the fields of Indigenous law and policy with a focus on copyright law, trademark law, patent law, trade secrets law, and cultural heritage. The book examines developments on the national scale in the United States, Canada, South Africa, the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, and Indonesia. The contributions provide an overview of the historical origins of conflicts over Indigenous knowledge and assess future challenges arising from developments in information technology, biotechnology, and climate change. Available for purchase here.

• Roodt, Christina, Private International Law, Art and Cultural Heritage, (June 2015) (ISBN: 978-1781002155). Covering issues from restitution to material heritage and provenance, the author reveals how private international law can improve methods of dispute resolution. She explores how the law can be better tailored to address issues in illicit trade of cultural objects and title laundering. This book offers unique and refreshing perspectives for international policymakers, adjudicators, law enforcement officials, and legal scholars. Available for purchase here.

• Schrage, Eltjo, Tilleman, Bernard, Verbeke, Alain & Demarsin, Bert (editors) Art & Law (December 2008) (ISBN 978-1841138190). The essays in this publication were offered in a course of lectures and seminars at the Catholic University of Louvain by a group of Belgian and Dutch art law experts. These essays offer a perspective on problems old and new confronting those interested in the relationship between art and law. The topics covered extend from preservation of archaeological heritage to droit de suit, artistic freedom, erotic art, art in time of war, the moral rights of artists, and much more. Available for purchase here.

• Senson, Astrid & Mandler, Peter, From Plunder to Preservation: Britain and the Heritage of Empire, c.1800-1940 (July 2013) (ISBN: 978-0197265413). Details from the publisher: “What was the effect of the British Empire on the cultures and civilisations of the peoples over whom it ruled? This book takes a novel approach to this important and controversial subject by considering the impact of empire on the idea of ‘heritage’.” Available for purchase here.

• Stamatoudi, Irini A., Cultural Property Law and Restitution: A Commentary to International Conventions and European Union Law (May 2011) (ISBN: 978-1848446618). “This book offers a refreshing view on cultural property law and the issue of the restitution of cultural property. The author combines an in depth analysis of the relevant international and European instruments with a clear vision of the purpose and goals of this area of law.” Available for purchase here.

• Tepper, Stephen Not Here, Not Now, Not That: Protest over Art and Culture in America (July 2011) (ISBN:9780226792873). Utilizing over 71 cases, Stephen J. Tepper puts the microscope on art controversy in the United States in order to pose the question, why do certain works lead to protest? With the defunding of the National Endowment of the Arts a renewed possibility, Tepper’s studies of the local disputes surrounding public funding and exhibition provides an analysis of the local controversies that constitute what we understand as the “culture war” that put public arts in the crosshairs in the ‘90s. Available for purchase here.

• Vadi, Valentina, Cultural Heritage Law in International Investment and Arbitration (March 2016) (ISBN:978-1316603475). Vadi maps the relevant investor-state arbitrations concerning cultural elements in an effort to show that arbitrators have increasingly taken cultural concerns into consideration in deciding cases brought before them, eventually contributing to the coalescence of general principles of law demanding the protection of cultural heritage. Available for purchase here.

• Van Woudenberg, Nout, State Immunity and Cultural Objects on Loan (March 2012) (ISBN: 9789004217041). “Cultural objects have been on the move for a long time. Yet there has been no comprehensive survey to date of the current state of affairs with regard to immunity from seizure of foreign cultural objects belonging to foreign States that are on loan for temporary exhibition. This study fills that gap by examining whether there is any rule of (customary) international law stipulating that such cultural objects are immune from seizure, or whether such a rule is emerging.” Available for purchase here.