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Cultural Heritage and Art Law These links explore sites devoted to legal regimes for protecting cultural heritage and artifacts internationally and locally, as well as dealing with the problem of art theft and the protection of traditional knowledge. Legal Protection of Cultural Property: A Selective Resource Guide Collected by Louise Tsang, this site provides links to
important sources of information, both print and electronic, concerning the protection of cultural property in wartime, international trade in cultural property, and the laws applicable to the illicit traffic of art and antiquities. Section V of this guide highlights resources that are specific to the topic of restitution of Nazi-looted art. Section VI highlights resources on stolen cultural property in Iraq. This guide focuses on materials in English. Subtitled "Preserving our Global Cultural Heritage," this is the web site of an international conference held at Rutgers University, New Jersey, in 1998, resulting in a set of resolutions regarding principles for respecting and preserving cultural artifacts. Located in Leicester, England, the institute web site is an excellent source on art law, cultural property law, and museum governance. A London-based private organisation. "The Art Loss Register (ALR) is the world's largest private international database of lost and stolen art, antiques and collectibles that provides recovery and search services to collectors, the art trade, insurers and law enforcement through technology and a professionally trained staff of art historians."
The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (the World Heritage Convention) was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972. This is its official site for text, ratification news, official records, and advisory body information. Documents and general links to the Convention for the Protection of the Architecrural Heritage of Europe (1985), and national reports on legislation and policies for 27 countries. Contains reports and recommended measures from ICOMOS committees and countries around the world. Its mission is to further the conservation of the world's historic monuments and sites. Provides links to legal instruments in the form of declarations, recommendations or conventions, which are adopted by UNESCO's Member States to more effectively protect all forms of culture. Includes link to a database of cultural heritiage laws, a collection of national copyright laws, news and current events. Established under the auspices of the McDonald Institute for ArchaeologicalResearch at Cambridge University, U.K., the site provides text and links to relevant treaties and other documentation to educate and to monitor the impact of antiquities theft worldwide. Links to a portal of online databases on bodies of information and the work of an intergovernmental committee to devise a regime for protection and proper dissemination of traditional knowledge for the benefit of indigenous peoples and others. |
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