PROTECTING PROPERTY RIGHTS AND UNLEASHING CAPITAL IN ART

Abstract

Right now in the art world, claims by theft victims (or their heirs) abound. High-profile examples include claims to art stolen from or sold under duress by Jews persecuted by the Third Reich, which currently are pending in nine federal courts, and the Peruvian government’s claim against Yale University seeking return of artifacts taken by Professor Hiram Bingham from Macchu Pichu. Plenty of cases revolving around art theft remain pending in state and federal courts at any given time. Moreover, new claims will most certainly continue to arise as thefts of art from museums, galleries, offices and homes throughout the United States and the world occur on a regular – even daily – basis, with no sign of stemming. Likewise, antiquities continue to be looted from the ground in the United States and abroad.This article proposes establishing a Torrens-based Federal Bureau of Cultural Property Registration as a means to mitigate the effects of cultural property thefts, laying out the benefits, risks, and basic workings of such a system. Section I argues for the creation of a cultural property registration system, noting the benefits that such as system would offer both as a more equitable means of securing title and as a mechanism for museums to acquire much-needed capital. Section II sets the stage with background information, reviewing U.S. Torrens legislation in the context of serving as a framework upon which a cultural property registration system could be built. Section III sets forth a proposal for a Federal Bureau of Cultural Property Registration, noting how it could successfully be tailored to meet the needs of the market within the basic Torrens system framework.