Law, crime and regulation

A retired Massachusetts lawyer found guilty of involvement in a major art theft that extends back three decades has been sentenced to seven years in a Federal prison.

Could it be that common sense has broken out in the interpretation of the complex laws regarding the sale of antique rhinoceros horns?

A FAMILY feud has led to yet another cancellation of the sale of 63 works of art by Oskar Schlemmer, one of the central figures of the Bauhaus.

THE premises of two London dealers were targeted by thieves over the same weekend at the end of last month.

IN the next week or so, the British Government must decide whether 2010 or 2012 is the right time for the Artist’s Resale Right to be extended to the heirs of artists who have been dead for less than 70 years.

DEALERS in West London were relieved at the decision by Mayor Boris Johnson to abolish the western extension zone of the congestion charge introduced last year by his predecessor Ken Livingstone.

ANTIQUES dealers are being warned against using unfamiliar courier companies that they find through web directories.

A VOLUNTEER at the Royal Signals Regiment Museum in Blandford, Dorset, has been jailed for 12 months for stealing £33,000 of medals and selling them on eBay.

THE British Museum have credited the Treasure Act – which ensures treasure hunters are compensated for finds – for the significant increase in reported objects.

DMG Antiques Fairs say they have increased security following the theft of £80,000 worth of jewellery at their Ardingly fair on September 3.

SPECIALIST New York lawyer Charles Goldstein and academic Mara Wantuch will be exploring the issue of Holocaust-related assets in a seminar at the Notre Dame Law Centre in London on November 19.

Two fine early 19th century clocks were among more than 100 mostly antique items stolen in Kingston upon Thames on October 10.

FOLLOWING last week's report on Royal Mail's compensation policy (click here to view), several readers have written to ATG tell of their experiences.

A DEALER has raised serious questions over Royal Mail’s compensation policy for items lost in the post following a dispute that ended in court. Despite the county court judge ruling against the postal service, Royal Mail are refusing to change their policy.

A NEW European-based listings con has emerged that has all the hallmarks of the previous scam guides which have been targeting dealers for years.

PERSONAL intervention by French President Nicolas Sarkozy has raised the stakes in the battle over extending the Artist’s Resale Right (Droit de Suite) to the heirs of dead artists.

BONHAMS announced last week that all their businesses worldwide would now be subject to external regulation by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Chairman Robert Brooks, who has consistently called for greater transparency in the auction system, explained why they had chosen to become a firm “regulated by RICS”.

EBAY are to ban the sale of ivory products on its USA site from January.

The Metropolitan Police’s new team of ArtBeat Special Constables were deployed for the first time on October 20 as part of Operation Syenite. The aim of the operation is to raise awareness among London’s art world about antiquities looted from the Afghanistan National Museum in Kabul during the 1990s.

This japanned lacquer case to this Georgian bracket clock was stolen from a restorer in Norfolk on October 15. The case, which had been restored, is slightly larger than is normal, accommodating a musical movement.