The New York Times ran an article about the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s agreement about the agreement that led to the return of disputed artifacts to Italy in exchange for a system of rotating pieces on loan. Yesterday came word through Reuters that the Getty will be receiving antiquities on loan from the National Archeological Museum in Naples under a similar arrangement.
University of Oregon law professor Dom Vetri, who teaches Art Law, said:
This news item demonstrates how important breakthroughs can be achieved through mediation and settlement that would not be possible in litigation. … This is creative lawyering at its best with a win-win for everyone.
Michael Moffitt
The Center for Art Law in Geneva,
http://www.art-law.org/index_en.html, has a series of publications, including Volume 11: Resolution Methods for Art-Related Disputes (1999). I hope it is not unseemly for me to add that among the many interesting contributions, there is an article by me, “Mediation in Art Related Disputes,” that touches on many of the points in Dom Vetri’s comment.