Law, crime and regulation

Dallas based Heritage Auctions is suing a Christie’s-owned firm in the US over alleged data theft.

MP and BADA president Victoria Borwick has given a passionate defence of the antique ivory trade in Parliament, strongly arguing against a total ban.

The earliest and most detailed depiction of Henry VIII’s famed lost Palace of Nonsuch will soon be on public display after The Victoria & Albert Museum saved it for the nation.

The Van Gogh Museum has issued an extraordinary public rebuttal to the release of ‘Vincent van Gogh: The Lost Arles Sketchbook’, criticising the authors for their “excessively easy going attitude… towards questions of authenticity”.

The Los Angeles Superior Court has upheld California’s uncompromising ban on the sale of most ivory objects.

A sixth arrest has been made by police investigating the murder of antiques dealer Robyn Mercer.

London’s Mayor Gallery has filed a complaint in New York state court claiming the Agnes Martin foundation acted wrongly when rejecting works submitted for authentication.

Sotheby’s has bought scientific research specialist Orion Analytical to "help to make the art market a safer place".

Leading trade bodies are voicing concerns that a revised EU consultation into the illicit trafficking of antiquities could lead to a “burdensome” new import licence system.

The Antiquities Dealers’ Association says the wording of the Cultural Property bill currently passing through Parliament ‘risks serious damage’ to the market and exposes members of the trade to an “unfair” risk of prosecution.

A Superior Court judge in Los Angeles has heard the legal arguments that challenge California’s uncompromising ban on the sale of practically all ivory objects.

Politicians and trade bodies have raised further concerns over how a new Cultural Property Bill could impact the art market.

Police are appealing for information following a theft at Polesden Lacey House, a National Trust property in Surrey.

Protestors organised by wildlife charity Action for Elephants are demonstrating outside of The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in London today to make the case for banning the ivory trade in the UK.

Art Recovery Group, founded by Chris Marinello three years ago as a rival to long-established The Art Loss Register, has split the firm to create a not-for-profit organisation called Artive.

The government is hoping to find a UK-based buyer to pay £1.2m for an 18th century William Hogarth painting to prevent it from leaving the country.

Efforts to protect the trade’s Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) against tax reforms gathered steam this week with the publication of a letter from three leading trade associations in the Financial Times.

The historic art and antiques districts of Mayfair and St James’s last night received designated protection by Westminster City Council planners as part of a new policy for central London.

Derbyshire-based Bamfords Auctioneers & Valuers has announced it will no longer sell solid ivory objects.

The Princely Collections of Liechtenstein has released a document to counter claims that 'Venus', a painting attributed to Lucas Cranach the Elder, is a forgery.