Cultural Property

In the United States, Europe, and elsewhere, museums are in possession of cultural objects that were unethically taken from their countries and communities of origin under the auspices of colonialism. For many years, the art world considered such holdings unexceptional. Now, a longstanding movement to decolonize museums is gaining momentum, and some museums are reconsidering their collections. Presently, whether to return such looted cultural heritage...

Foreign patrimony laws nationalize ownership of cultural property found within a nation’s borders and prohibit export or private owner­ship. They are enforceable in the United States under the McClain doc­trine. In defending against McClain-doctrine suits to repatriate stolen cul­tural property, defendants have begun to assert the “inactivity defense,” which is premised on the theory that enforcing certain patri­mony...