Legal Concepts of Cultural Heritage Property

Abstract

Property is one of the most intuitively natural of all legal concepts, as anyone who has watched two children contending over a toy can attest. It is also one of the most useful. Without it, there could be no bank accounts, no markets, no inheritance, and no security in one’s home. Almost every material thing in life depends on the invention and elaboration of the idea and laws of property. The important qualifier is the term “almost.” We all know that there are the obvious exceptions where ordinary proprietary rules do not and should not apply, such as in human . . .