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A Bill going through the UK parliament concerning design copyright threatens to create significant obstacles for those wishing to publish catalogues when staging exhibitions in commercial galleries or museums, says a leading academic.

‘The Return of Industrial Copyright?’, as Professor Bently’s paper is titled, sets out how, for decades, UK law has struggled to establish a balance between artistic copyright, which arises naturally, and design protection, which depends on registration.

Oxfordshire saleroom Jones & Jacob of Watlington sold this Nathaniel Mills silver presentation snuff box for £16,600 at their latest sale.

1stdibs, the global online marketplace for high-end art, antiques and decorative objects, have announced a further injection of capital, giving them a total $102m fund over the past year for expansion.

LAPADA, the Association of Art and Antique Dealers, have announced that their annual conference will focus on the internet in 2013.

When it comes to rock and pop memorabilia, and The Beatles in particular, if the provenance is not only right but of the first magnitude, prices can soar.

This stoneware model of a rhino led the latest sale at Cottees which proved to be one of the most successful the Poole auctioneers have held in recent years.

The 20th/21st Century Design sale at Rago Arts of Lambertville, New Jersey on October 26-28 included this exceptional enamel by Alexander Fisher (1864-1936).

Designed for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, a 1928 poster by Cassandre (1901-68) sold at Swann Auction Galleries of New York for what is believed to be a record for the sought-after poster designer at auction.

A 1928 movie poster of Mickey Mouse, thought to be the earliest surviving poster of the Walt Disney character, has fetched $85,000 (£56,000) at auction in Dallas, Texas.

The failure of wine investment funds to the tune of around £100m in the past four years has prompted the industry to set up a regulatory body to police such ventures.

While anthropomorphic bird figures have long been seen as the most desirable products of the Martin Brothers’ art pottery, recently there has been an upsurge in demand for their equally characterful grotesque models.

Ritchies, the Toronto auction house founded in 1967 and declared bankrupt in 2009, are trading again. And in spectacular style.

Two men have been sentenced to a year in jail after admitting the theft of a sundial sculpture and bronze plinth from the Henry Moore Foundation.

A recent court case in New York has reinforced the importance of the often overlooked issue of artists’ moral rights.

It took over 15 minutes to sell, but when the gavel finally came down at £26.5m the Raphael from Chatsworth had become the second most expensive Old Master ever sold at auction – and the priciest drawing of all time.

Back in 1998 Lacy Scott & Knight of Bury St Edmunds were instructed by local art teacher and model enthusiast John Clibbon to sell the majority of a large collection of tinplate toys.

Leica cameras proved one of the must-have auction prizes in recent sales with record prices at Westlicht in Vienna and Bonhams Hong Kong.

With London now accustomed to high levels of spending by private Russian buyers, the latest auctions in this sector once again produced some eye-catching prices for particular lots.

A pair of 2ft 3in (71cm) high Elkington & Co cloisonné vases with ornate ormolu mounts will be offered on December 13-14 by Cheshire auctioneers Adam Partridge.