Law, crime and regulation

Proposals to extend copyright on some designs from 25 to 70 years could set off a whole new era of legal disputes.

Below is the full text of the statement made by Baroness Wilcox, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, on June 14, 2012.

Antique firearm collectors and dealers are at risk of prosecution because of gun ownership laws. The warning comes from firearms law expert Laura Saunsbury, of Lewis Nedas & Co solicitors in Camden, London. The firm have been involved in recent cases where possession of antique weapons has been the issue.

Pressure for better police cover is starting to pay off for Portobello antiques dealers – but they say there is still much to be done. The traders have been incensed by cuts that left just four officers to patrol the area in pairs on Saturdays despite a recent rise in robberies, and demanded action on extra patrols.

COMMENT: As reported last week, the postcard campaign launched by art dealer Niall Fairhead in a bid to raise the threshold for the Artist's Resale Right has made progress, attracting more signatories for the online petition and eliciting answers from the Intellectual Property Office (IPO).

Four suspected thieves were due to appear in court in connection with a series of burglaries at six auction houses in the south of England last year.

A medieval Nottingham alabaster plaque prised away from a London church has been recovered after the appeal in ATG.

COMMENT: More than 60,000 visitors on a summer Saturday, one of the most popular tourist spots in the UK, a name so recognised internationally that the local council wants to brand a Crossrail station after it... there are plenty of reasons to protect Portobello‘s antiques trade.

Close to 800 postcards in the Artist’s Resale Right campaign have already arrived at the Department of Culture, with more on the way.

A federal judge has declared the 1977 California Resale Royalty Act unconstitutional.

An alarming rise in violent robberies on antiques dealers in Portobello Road has spurred them into action to call for better police cover, CCTV cameras and even private security guards.

Two more churches have been hit by thieves in the latest of a series of break-ins targeting medieval monuments and carvings.

The English Supreme Court has ruled that expert witnesses will no longer enjoy immunity from civil lawsuits when giving evidence in either civil or criminal legal proceedings.

Comment: Nicholas Somers, FNAVA. FRSA.

Ramraiders have stolen more than 50 silver and jewellery items worth up to £20,000 from an auction house in Worcestershire.

A very rare medieval jug, originally sold at Sotheby’s but then put on display by a Luton museum after a successful appeal to keep it in the UK, has been stolen.

Glasgow auction house McTear’s have scrapped payments over the phone in a bid to tackle credit card fraud. They now use an online system, which they say customers prefer and is safer all round.

This week’s printed copy of ATG contains a postcard addressed to the Culture Secretary carrying the following message: “I oppose the extension of Artist’s Resale Right to works by deceased artists and request that the threshold which triggers it be raised from €1000 to €3000.”

Beset by allegations of non-payment and credit card irregularities, Berkshire saleroom Cameo Fine Art Auctioneers have suspended trading.

An international award scheme set up two years ago has honoured Cranfield University’s programme of research into art market fakes and forgeries.