Art, Cultural Institutions and Heritage Law Committee

About the Committee

The Committee on Art, Cultural Institutions and Heritage Law is concerned with all aspects of law as it relates to art, artists, and cultural heritage in the broadest context. This extends from archaeology and the protection of ancient monuments to national heritage and public and private collections to the art trade and contemporary art. 'Art law' is an interdisciplinary field involving tax (individual estates and charities), commercial transactions, intellectual property in all aspects and private and public international law.

Membership

With a membership encompassing more than 58 different countries and lawyers active in representing auction houses, museums, artists and their estates, collectors, galleries, governments in the protection of cultural heritage, and dealers in antiquities, the Committee is an ideal forum to encourage and facilitate communications among art lawyers and other legal professionals about issues concerning all aspects of the law relating to the art market, international transactions in works of art, cultural property laws and museums.

As the foremost international committee of art lawyers, members are often invited to comment on international art and cultural property issues, including discussions on international treaties such as the UNIDROIT Treaty on Cultural Property, various UNESCO conventions, WIPO initiated discussions and other treaties which affect the international trade in art and cultural property. The committee's goal is to establish a worldwide network of art and cultural property lawyers with information and discussion links to relevant NGOs, institutes of art law, and governmental organisations.