N.Y. Education Law § 233-aa: Property of other museums

§ 233-aa. Property of other museums. 1. As used in this section:

(a) The term "museum" means any institution, including but not limited

to museums, historical societies, zoological gardens, aquariums,

botanical gardens, and arboreta, having collecting as a stated purpose

in its charter, or owning or holding collections, or intending to own or

hold collections, that is a governmental entity or not-for-profit

corporation. The term museum does not include the state museum.

(b) The term "deaccession" means the permanent removal or disposal of

property from the collection of a museum by virtue of its sale,

exchange, donation, or transfer by any means to any person.

(c) The term "person" means any natural person, partnership,

corporation, company, trust association, or other entity, however

organized.

(d) The term "property" means any inanimate object, document,

organism, or tangible object under a museum's care which has intrinsic

historic, artistic, scientific, or cultural value.

(e) The term "loan" means a deposit of property with a museum not

accompanied by a transfer to such museum of title to the property.

(f) The term "lender" means a person legally entitled to, or claiming

to be legally entitled to, property held by the museum or, if such

person is deceased, the legal heirs of such person.

(g) The term "unclaimed property" means property which is on loan to a

museum and in regard to which the lender, or anyone acting legitimately

on the lender's behalf, has not contacted the museum for at least ten

years from the date of the beginning of the loan, if the loan was for an

indefinite or undetermined period, or for at least five years after the

date upon which the loan for a definite period expired.

(h) The term "undocumented property" means property that has been in

the possession of a museum for at least ten years and for which the

museum cannot determine the lender, donor, or owner by making a good

faith and reasonable search for the identity and last known address of

the lender, donor or owner from the museum records and other records

reasonably available to museum staff.

(i) The term "conservation measures" means any actions taken to

preserve or stabilize a property, including, but not limited to, proper

storage, support, cleaning, and restoration.

2. The acquisition of property by a museum pursuant to this section

must be consistent with the mission of the museum.

3. Prior to the acquisition of property by gift, a museum shall inform

a donor or prospective donor of the provisions of this section and shall

provide a donor or prospective donor with a written copy of its mission

statement and collections policy, which shall include policies and

procedures of the museum related to deaccessioning.

4. If the museum has knowledge of a planned bequest of any property

prior to the death of the testator, the museum shall provide the

testator with a written copy of its mission statement and collections

policy, which shall include policies and procedures of the museum

relating to deaccessioning, provided, however, that any museum that

routinely makes its mission statement and collections policy available

on its website shall be deemed to have complied with this subdivision.

5. Proceeds derived from the sale of any property title to which was

acquired by a museum pursuant to this section shall be used only for the

acquisition of property for the museum's collection or for the

preservation, protection, and care of the collection and shall not be

used to defray ongoing operating expenses of the museum.

6. (a) Notice by mail required by this section shall be mailed to a

lender's last known address by certified mail, return receipt requested;

provided, however, that notice shall be given by publication pursuant to

paragraph (b) of this subdivision if the museum does not:

(i) know the identity of the lender; or

(ii) know the address of the lender; or

(iii) receive proof that the notice mailed under this section was

received within thirty days of mailing.

(b) Notice by publication must be given at least once a week for three

consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in:

(i) the county in which the property is held by the museum; and

(ii) the county of the lender's last address, if known.

The date of notice under this paragraph shall be the date of the third

published notice.

(c) In addition to any other information required by this section, any

notice given under this section must contain the following:

(i) The name of the lender, if known.

(ii) The last address of the lender, if known.

(iii) A brief description of the property on loan to the museum

referenced in the notice.

(iv) The date of the loan, if known, or the approximate date of

acquisition of the property.

(v) The name and address of the museum.

(vi) The name, address, and telephone number of the person to be

contacted regarding the property.

(d) A copy of all notices required by this section pertaining to

property in the form of identifiable works of art known to have been

created before nineteen hundred forty-five and to have changed hands in

Europe during the Nazi era (1933-1945) shall be sent to The Art Loss

Register or any successor organization having similar purposes on or

before the date on which such notices are mailed or first published

pursuant to the requirements of this section.

7. Unless there is a written loan agreement to the contrary, and

notwithstanding any other provision of law regarding abandoned or lost

property, a museum that has made a good faith and reasonable search for

the identity and last known address of the lender from the museum

records and other records reasonably available to museum staff may

terminate a loan for unclaimed property in its possession in accordance

with the provisions of this subdivision.

(a) If the museum has identified the lender and the lender's last

known address, the museum shall give notice by mail, in accordance with

subdivision six of this section, of its intent to terminate the loan.

(b) Such notice shall be entitled "Notice of Termination" and must

include a statement containing substantially the following information:

"The records of the (name of museum) indicate that you have or may have

property on loan at (name of facility). The museum is seeking to

determine whether you wish:

(i) that the museum return the property to you,

(ii) that the property remain on loan to the museum subject to annual

renewal (if the museum also wishes that the property remain on loan), or

(iii) that the museum obtain all of the lender's rights to the

property, either to take the property into its collection or to dispose

of the property, in its sole discretion. Please contact (name of

contact) in writing within one hundred twenty days to advise the museum

as to which of the above alternatives you wish to follow."

(c) If the lender does not respond to the notice of termination,

within one hundred twenty days following receipt thereof, the museum

shall send a second notice to the lender containing the following

information: "On (date of first notice), the (name of museum) sent you a

notice concerning property that, according to our records, has been lent

to the (name of museum). You have not responded to that notice, a copy

of which is enclosed, and the museum will commence proceedings to

acquire title to the property if you do not contact (name of contact) in

writing within one hundred twenty days of receiving this second notice."

(d) If the lender fails to respond to the second notice within one

hundred twenty days of receipt thereof, the museum shall acquire all of

the lender's rights to the property.

(e) If the museum does not receive proof that the notices mailed

pursuant to this subdivision were received within thirty days of

mailing, or if the museum has undertaken a good faith and reasonable

search of museum records and other records reasonably available to

museum staff but has been unable to determine the identity and last

known address of the lender, the museum may terminate the loan by

complying with the procedures established in subdivision eight of this

section for acquisition of title to undocumented property.

8. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law regarding abandoned

or lost property, a museum may acquire the rights of the lender, donor,

or owner to undocumented property by giving notice by publication, in

accordance with subdivision six of this section, that it is asserting

title to the undocumented property.

(b) Such notice shall be entitled "Notice of Intent to Acquire

Property" and must include a statement containing substantially the

following information: "The (name of museum) hereby asserts its intent

to acquire title to the following property: (brief description of

property). If you claim ownership of this property, you must contact the

museum in writing and make arrangements to collect the property. If you

fail to do so within one hundred eighty days, the museum will commence

proceedings to acquire title to the property. If you wish to commence

legal proceedings to claim the property, you should consult an

attorney."

(c) If the museum does not receive contact from any person who can

provide documentation or other evidence establishing an ownership

interest in the property within one hundred eighty days of the date of

notice by publication, the museum shall cause a brief description of the

property to be submitted to the comptroller, who shall post such

description on the unclaimed funds registry for not less than one

hundred eighty days.

(d) If the museum does not receive contact from any person who can

provide documentation or other evidence establishing an ownership

interest in the property prior to or within thirty days following the

conclusion of the unclaimed funds registry posting, the museum shall

acquire title to the property.

9. The provisions of subdivisions seven and eight of this section

shall not apply to:

(a) any property that was created before nineteen hundred forty-five

and changed hands due to theft, seizure, confiscation, forced sale, or

other involuntary means in Europe during the Nazi era (1933-1945); or

(b) notwithstanding any copy of a notice sent pursuant to subdivision

six of this section, any property reported as stolen to a law

enforcement agency or insurer or The Art Loss Register or any successor

organization having similar purposes no later than three years following

the theft or discovery of the theft.

10. A museum shall acquire all rights to undocumented property that is

not solicited by the museum and that is delivered to the museum or left

on museum premises after January first, two thousand nine if no person

provides documentation or other evidence establishing an ownership

interest in the property within ninety days of delivery of such property

to the museum.

11.(a) The museum shall give a lender prompt written notice by mail,

in accordance with subdivision six of this section, of any known injury

to, or loss of, property on loan or of the need to apply conservation

measures. Such notice shall advise the lender of his or her right, in

lieu of the application of such conservation measures, to terminate the

loan and, no later than thirty days after having received such notice,

either retrieve the property or arrange for its isolation and retrieval.

The museum shall not be required to publish notice of injury or loss to

any undocumented property.

(b) Unless there is a written loan agreement to the contrary, the

museum may apply conservation measures to property on loan to the museum

without giving formal notice or first obtaining the lender's permission

if immediate action is required to protect the property on loan or other

property in the custody of the museum or if the property on loan is a

hazard to the health and safety of the public or the museum staff;

provided that:

(i) the museum is unable to reach the lender at the lender's address

or telephone number before the time by which the museum determines

action is necessary; or

(ii) the lender either (1) does not respond to a request for

permission to apply conservation measures within three days of receiving

the request or will not agree to the conservation measures the museum

recommends; or (2) fails to terminate the loan and either retrieve the

property or arrange for its isolation and retrieval within thirty days

of receiving the request.

If immediate conservation measures are necessary to protect the

property or to protect the health or safety of the public or museum

staff, the conditions set forth in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this

paragraph shall not apply.

(c) Unless provided otherwise in an agreement with the lender, if a

museum applies conservation measures to property under paragraph (a) of

this subdivision, and provided that the measures were not required as a

result of such museum's own action or inaction, such museum shall

acquire a lien on the property in the amount of the costs incurred by

such museum, including, but not limited to, the cost of labor and

materials, and shall not be liable for injury to or loss of the

property, provided that such museum:

(i) had a reasonable belief at the time when the action was taken that

the action was necessary to protect the property on loan or otherwise in

the custody of the museum or that such property on loan was a hazard to

the health and safety on the public or the museum staff; and

(ii) exercised reasonable care in the choice and application of

conservation measures.

12. A lender shall promptly notify a museum, in writing, of any change

of address or change in the ownership of property on loan to such

museum.

13. The museum shall maintain or continue to maintain, as the case may

be and to the extent such information is reasonably available, a record

of acquisition, whether by purchase, bequest, gift, loan or otherwise,

of property for display or collection and of deaccessioning or loan of

property currently held or thereafter acquired for display or

collection. Any such record shall:

(a) state the name, address, and telephone number of the person from

whom such property was acquired, or to whom such property was

transferred by deaccessioning or loan, and a description of such

property, its location, if known, and the terms of the acquisition or

deaccessioning or loan, including any restrictions as to its use or

further disposition, and any other material facts about the terms and

conditions of the transaction, which records shall be updated if a

lender informs the museum of a change in address, ownership of the

property or other relevant information, or if the lender and museum

negotiate a change in the terms of the transaction;

(b) include a copy of any document of conveyance relating to the

acquisition or deaccessioning or loan of such property and all notices

and other documents prepared or received by the museum; and

(c) in the case of property acquired pursuant to this section, include

records documenting the search for the identity and last known address

of the lender, and copies of all notices and other documents prepared or

received by the museum in connection with the acquisition of title to

such property.

14. Nothing in this section shall limit the ability of a lender and

museum to bind themselves to different loan provisions by written

agreement, nor shall this section abrogate rights and obligations of a

lender or museum pursuant to a written agreement.

15. Every museum which has on display any identifiable works of art

known to have been created before nineteen hundred forty-five and which

changed hands due to theft, seizure, confiscation, forced sale or other

involuntary means in Europe during the Nazi era (nineteen hundred

thirty-three--nineteen hundred forty-five) shall, to the extent

practicable, prominently place a placard or other signage acknowledging

such information along with such display.