At 03:54 AM 8/25/97 GMT, you wrote:
>Some of you may have read previous messages from me on this subject --
>
>I am writing a law review article on searching for stolen art/antiquities
>on the internet. Previous responses to my postings have offered tremendous
>on-line resources, but I wonder if anyone can help with a more historical
>perspective -- how did you handle searching for your stolen
>art/antiquities prior to the internet. Anecdotes are welcome, and
>attribution given!
>
>Thanks in advance for the help!
>
>Laura McFarland-Taylor
>The John Marshall Law School
>[log in to unmask]
>
Here is a hypothetical question regarding stolen art and copyright:

A work of art, under copyright, is stolen from a museum which owns the
object, but not the rights of reproduction.  Might the copyright holder
successfully claim infringement if the object owner places reproductions of
the stolen work on the various databases and lists maintained to help
identify and find stolen works?

I see nothing in the "fair use" provisions of the U.S. copyright law which
might apply here.  Normally copies of such works are allowed for "internal"
object management and insurance; but public databases of stolen art,
especially if placed on the Web, may be thrown into the same basket of
infringing usages as public dababases of artworks that are not stolen.

Robert Baron
[log in to unmask]