Artwork ownership

Works of art change hands in ways that leave few traces. A painting passes from parent to child without a word on paper, a sculpture given to a partner is remembered differently when the relationship ends, a work lent to a museum long ago now appears in its catalogue as part of the collection. Unlike land or shares, a movable object has no register that settles who owns it, and the question tends to be asked at the worst moment: when the work is about to be sold, divided or taken away.

Ownership of a work of art is decided by possession, by documents and by the circumstances in which each owner came to hold it, and it can be lost as well as proven:

• the rules on proving ownership of a work that appears in no register, and on what possession alone allows a court to presume;
• the rules on buying from someone who was not the owner, and on the checks a buyer must have made to be allowed to keep the work;
• the rules on acquiring ownership through long, open and uninterrupted possession, and on when a former owner loses the right to reclaim;
• the rules on recovering a stolen work, and on the court orders that stop it from being sold or moved while the dispute runs;
• the rules on works owned together by heirs, spouses or partners, and on who may decide to sell, lend or keep them;
• the rules on works whose status was never written down — a gift, a long-term loan, a work left in someone else’s care;
• the rules on works fixed to a building, such as murals and installations, and on who owns them when the building changes hands;
• the rules on the difference between owning a work and owning its image, and on what an owner may reproduce, alter or destroy.

Our lawyers can support you with this.