Crossing into many disciplines, cultural property law continues to grow as an established area of practice and study. Now completely updated, Cultural Property Law: A Practitioner's Guide to the Management, Protection, and Preservation of Heritage Resources provides a comprehensive, user-friendly overview of all major components of an interdisciplinary legal practice that extends from government and tribal management of land to federal underwater resource management to the national and international laws governing museums and the arts marketplace.

Defined as the tangible and intangible effects of an individual or group of people that defines their existence, cultural property not only fills art museums, but is also in private homes, places of worship, and within the natural landscape of public lands. Cultural property law has evolved from the common law of property to encompass a broad array of statutes and codes that direct the management, protection, and preservation of cultural resources in their many public and private manifestations. Important statutes have been used to preserve heritage, including the National Historic Preservation Act, the Archeological Resources Protection Act, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and others.

Cultural Property Law is a practical guide to how these laws and other state, tribal, and international statutes and policies intended to protect and administer these resources are applied and how they can be interpreted. The issues that come within the area of cultural property and heritage resources law can often be highly charged, but the discussions in this book are phrased in a neutral manner, leaving advocacy to the practitioner. The laws and controlling cases that apply are identified in each chapter, and the authors discuss issues which can arise in handling a case involving cultural property and conclude each chapter with frequently asked questions.

Chapters focus on the key areas of practice in protecting and administering cultural property, including:

Federal management, including compliance and enforcement
State, local, and private management, including both civil and criminal law enforcement
Indian law and tribal management
Federal management of underwater resources
Museum administration and collections management
International management