March 1, 2001

Tremors Register At Museums in Albuquerque and Oklahoma

Shockwaves in the Pacific Northwest earthquake registered on the Albuquerque Museum and Natural History's seismographs. Within moments of the Seattle's quake, which reached 6.8 on the Richter scale, gauges at the museum moved. Joe Huff, the museum's seismic expert, began studying the reading right away, he said. The activity also showed up on the museum's play seismograph for children.

Seattle Quake Felt In Oklahoma

Wednesday's earthquake in Seattle could be felt as far away as Oklahoma, Eyewitness News 5's Cherokee Ballard reported. A seismograph at Oklahoma City's Omniplex museum registered the quake, which measured approximately 6.9 on the Richter scale. "(The seismograph) measures ground movement," Greg Cristenson with the Omniplex said. The earthquake lasted less than a minute, he said. "It's like when a pebble gets thrown into a pond, and the ripples move out," Cristenson said. "We pick up those ripples here in Oklahoma." Many people don't realize that Oklahoma has earthquakes almost everyday, Ballard reported. Because they are small, only the seismologists know that they are happening, Cristenson said.

Four Israelis arrested here for stealing Judaica in Europe

By Heidi J. Gleit
TEL AVIV (February 28) - A gang of Israelis is suspected of stealing valuable Judaica, ritual objects, and holy books from synagogues, museums, and private collections all over Europe, smuggling them into Israel, and reselling them. Tel Aviv police arrested four suspects on Monday and yesterday, central unit head Asst.- Cmdr. Menahem Frank said. Additional arrests are expected, he said, adding that at this point all the members of the gang appear to be Israelis. Police found $2 million worth of valuables that are believed to have been stolen in the Jerusalem home of one suspect, Aharon Stefanasky, 36, the police spokeswoman said. The valuables included two pairs of Torah ornaments (rimonim) worth Ł300,000 stolen from the Montefiore Synagogue in Kent, England, on February 15. The rimonim, which were part of the Montefiore family's private collection, were made in Holland in the 18th century and in Italy in the 19th. Tel Aviv police are in the process of identifying the other objects, which may have been stolen in Gibraltar, Belgium, France, and other European countries, as well as in Israel. They intend to circulate photographs of the objects among European police forces. Those who believe they may have been victimized by the gang are encouraged to contact the Tel Aviv police. Tel Aviv police began investigating the gang several days ago, in cooperation with the British police, after receiving information that the rimonim were here. Last Thursday, two suspects allegedly tried to sell them in Tel Aviv. On Monday, police staked out a Tel Aviv store where the sale was supposed to take place and arrested Yerahmiel Hershler, 45, of Bnei Brak, when he showed up with another set of rimonim that appears to have been stolen. Later that night, they arrested Stefansky and searched his home, finding millions of dollars worth of valuables that were suspected of being stolen and the Montefiore rimonim. They also arrested Amnon Edri, 31, of Haifa, who had recently returned from a trip to Europe, on suspicion he plotted and carried out the thefts abroad. Later in the day, a fourth suspect was arrested in the North. The Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court yesterday remanded Hershler until tomorrow and the other two until Sunday. The three all denied that knowing that the objects were stolen. Edri also denied being involved in theft or smuggling. "The police have lots of material to investigate, because we have hidden nothing. Everything is kosher with us. If we were criminals then they wouldn't have anything to investigate, because we would have hidden everything," Stefansky said. Hershler's attorney, Gil Dachoah, said that his client had simply taken some objects he was considering buying from Stefansky to Sotheby's for an appraisal. Hershler had not yet bought the objects and did not try to sell them, he said. However, Judge David Rozin remanded the three, saying there was strong evidence to back up police suspicions that they were involved in varying degrees with "a gang that for several years has been stealing and dealing in Judaica that has financial value as well as historic, religious, and personal value." In today's stolen art market, "pieces are stolen to order," Sotheby's spokeswoman Francis Barrow said. "The fact that the pieces were recovered showed that the system really does work... their coming here resulted in these pieces being recovered," she said. Sotheby's checks the provenance of pieces brought to it and sends copies of its catalogs to police and to Interpol, she explained.
http://www.jpost.com/

From: Royskaufman@cs.com
Date sent: Wed, 28 Feb 2001 22:01:36 EST
Subject:

Due Diligence

To: securma@museum- security.org

I am the editor of Art Law Handbook, a recently published treatise on art law issues published by Aspen Law and Business (http://www.aspenpublishers.com). I am responding to Robin Rogers' question last Friday about due diligence.
At present, there are no statutes in the US mandating due diligence in art transactions. However, there are a number of cases that look at the "due diligence" performed by the parties to determine critical issues of ownership, good faith, and compensation in the context of art that has been stolen and/or illegally exported. At one extreme, it is easy to imagine a dealer or broker being investigated and prosecuted by law enforcement officials if that person is involved in a transaction that is highly suspicious, and makes no efforts to gather the relevant facts. At the other extreme, no due diligence should be required for purchases (even expensive ones) from the primary market (i.e., purchases of the work of a living artist from a dealer who purports to represent the artist), or for purchases from public sales at auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's which are known to vet their catalogues.
The cases in which the courts analyze due diligence are very fact intensive, and since most situations fall between the extremes discussed above, it is best to consult with a lawyer who is a specialist in this field. Unfortunately for the trade, the trend in most recent decisions has been to require ever stricter standards of due diligence. That said, at a minimum, it would not hurt to consult the Art Loss Register before becoming involved in a transaction that makes you nervous, and remember to keep records that you did so.
If you want more general information, in addition to my book and the other treatises in the field, the most recent copy of IFAR Journal reports the proceedings of a workshop/conference on provenance and due diligence held in New York on April 29, 2000. IFAR is offering to sell the materials from the conference. IFAR's number is 212-391-6234. If anyone is interested in my book, I have pasted a copy of the press release below.
I hope this is helpful.
Roy Kaufman

Just Published! Expert Guidance on The Legal and Business Issues Influencing Art Creation and Transactions

New York, NY - Aspen Law & Business is pleased to announce the publication of Art Law Handbook. This new single-volume guidebook provides timely analysis and innovative solutions to the legal and business concerns that affect the creation, business and litigation of art. In-depth coverage of relevant domestic and international laws, analysis of case law, and dispute-resolution tactics are combined with discussion of how emerging policies, new media, and Internet technology have transformed even the most basic art transactions. Fifteen chapters, each written by a practicing authority in the field, cover issues vital to artists, purchasers, sellers, dealers, and others, such as copyrights, trademarks, design patents, and moral rights; legal aspects relating to new media; transacting business on the Internet; art theft; intellectual property protection for utilitarian objects; authentication and appraisals; restoration and conservation of works of art; selling and purchasing at auction; importing and exporting cultural property; international art transactions; tax and trust and estate planning for artists and purchasers; relationships between artists and dealers; First Amendment issues; business structures for artists; and much more.
Art Law Handbook also contains more than 40 sample art transaction forms, in print and on disk, including: copyright licenses, assignments, registration and permission forms; E- commerce and website development form agreements; commissioned artwork agreements; export forms; a purchase agreement; bills of sales; an escrow agreement; artist/gallery agreements; authentication and appraisal agreements; wills; and more.
Further, more than 30 appendices provide the text to laws and treaties, information sources, and other pertinent material, including U.S. Copyright Office circulars, art related web site listings, New York City auction regulations, artist/dealer consignment statutes, registration of stolen objects and Holocaust loss forms, and more.
Art Law Handbook is edited by Roy S. Kaufman, currently Assistant General Counsel to John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Contributing authors are Jonathan Bloom, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP; Peter S. Canelias, Law Office of Peter S. Canelias; Richard E. Halperin, Kay Collyer & Boose, LLP; William M. Hart, Proskauer Rose, LLP; Stephen Johnson, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker; LLP; Stephen Mark Levy, Lewis, D'Amato, Brisbois & Bisgaard, LLP; Matthew A. McMurphy, Jackson Walker, LLP; Rena J. Moulopoulis, Sotheby's; Jonathan A. Olsoff, Sotheby's; Jenifer deWolf Paine, Proskauer Rose, LLP; Van Kirk Reeves, Porter & Reeves; Laura Lee Stapleton, Jackson Walker, LLP; Erik J. Stapper, Stapper & Van Doren; and Benjamin Strouse, Javelin Technologies, Inc.
Art Law Handbook is available from Aspen Law & Business, 1185 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036. To order, please call 1-800-638-8437, fax to 1-800-901-9075 or visit us on the web at http://www.aspenpublishers.com .
Product Information: Copyright 2001, Casebound, one volume, approx.1,100 pages includes forms on a CD-ROM, supplemented annually, ISBN# 0-7355-1641-3, $185.

Troops Ordered To Destroy Statues

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Unmoved by international pressure, Afghanistan's Taliban rulers Wednesday delegated the job of destroying all statues in the country to armed troops from the Ministry of Vice and Virtue, saying the issue is an "internal" one. Asian officials, Buddist groups and archeologists have been in an uproar over the religious militia's decision to demolish statues, including two towering 5th-century images of Buddha carved into a cliff face. In ordering the statutes destroyed, the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, said Monday that they were contrary to the tenets of Islam, which the Taliban say forbids images, such as paintings and pictures. But while many Asian Buddhists criticized the decision, most refrained from criticizing the Islamic rulers, saying that would be against Buddha's teachings. Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, four predominantly Buddhist nations in Southeast Asia, have not officially criticized Kabul. In South Korea and Japan, the main Buddhist associations described the Afghan decision as anti-cultural and an affront to humanity. Neighboring Iran, also ruled by Islamic clergy, scolded Kabul's move, saying it will likely damage Afghanistan's relations with other governments, Iran's IRNA news agency said. It ridiculed Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, saying the people who ordered the statues' destruction "strangely call themselves clerics." A top monk in Thailand cited the Buddhist philosophy of turning the other cheek. "As Buddhists we are not allowed to criticize anyone, but good religious people should not destroy world heritage," said Phra Wipatsri Dhamaramo, also secretary to the country's chief monk. The Ministry of Vice and Virtue enforces edicts issued by Omar. They make sure men pray in the mosque, women cover from head to toe in the all encompassing burqa and that bans on most forms of light entertainment, photography and television are enforced. The Taliban's foreign Minister, Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, told The Associated Press that the Taliban, who rule 95 percent of Afghanistan, are unmoved by international pleas to save the Buddhas. "We have diplomatic relations with only three Islamic countries and this has not effected our relations with them. Other countries should understand that this is an internal issue and these statues belong to Afghanistan," he said. Among the statues the Taliban have ordered destroyed are two ancient treasures -- the world's tallest standing Buddha, measuring 175 feet and a smaller Buddha standing 120 feet. In Pakistan, archaeologist and founder of the Society to Preserve Afghan Cultural Heritage, Professor Ahmed Hasan Dani, said the decision to destroy the Buddhas was a travesty. "These are not there to be worshipped. They are works of art. They belong to all of humanity," he said. Omar, in his edict ordering their destruction, said that he wanted to ensure the statues were not worshipped in the future. There are no Buddhists living in Afghanistan. Other than Muslims there are only Hindus and Sikhs and Muttawakil promised their temples would be protected. There also is one elderly Jewish rabbi, who stays in Kabul to protect a synagogue, which is a small house in the center of the city. The Taliban have not prevented him from practicing his religion http://www.lasvegassun.com/