Bill Text: CT HB07282 | 2017 | General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: An Act Protecting Connecticut's Fine Art Market.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-14 - Referred to Joint Committee on Judiciary [HB07282 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2017-HB07282-Introduced.html

---

General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 7282
January Session, 2017		LCO No. 5389
		*05389_______JUD*
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)

AN ACT PROTECTING CONNECTICUT'S FINE ART MARKET.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2017) (a) As used in this section:

(1) "Fine art" means the following types of art, with an appraised value of not less than one million dollars: (A) Drawing; (B) painting; (C) sculpture; (D) mosaic; (E) photograph; (F) work of calligraphy; (G) work of graphic art, including any etching, lithograph, offset print, silkscreen or other work of graphic art; (H) craft work in clay, textile, fiber, metal, plastic or other material; (I) art work in mixed media, including any collage, assemblage or other work combining any of the artistic media named in this definition, or combining any of said media with other media; or (J) a master from which copies of an artistic work can be made, such as a mold or a photographic negative. "Fine art" does not include an antiquity;

(2) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association or other group, however organized;

(3) "Possess" or "possession" means to have physical control of fine art;

(4) "Provenance" means the full history of ownership of fine art from time of its discovery or creation to the present through which authenticity and continuous chain of ownership of the fine art may be determined;

(5) "State" means the state of Connecticut;

(6) "Tainted title" means a claim to ownership of fine art for which (A) there is not a continuous chain of legal ownership, or (B) there has not been a prior determination of legal ownership; and

(7) "Valid title" means a claim to ownership of fine art (A) for which provenance demonstrates a continuous chain of legal ownership, or (B) based upon a prior determination involving the legal ownership of the fine art.

(b) No person may possess or acquire, as the result of a purchase or bequest, any fine art that was unlawfully obtained by a prior owner. When a person takes possession of, or acquires any fine art, such person shall have the affirmative duty to obtain provenance of the fine art and to ensure valid title of the fine art.

(c) (1) Any person with knowledge that another person is in possession of fine art with tainted title may bring a civil action against such person. The action shall be brought in the name of the state and in the superior court for the judicial district where the fine art is located.

(2) In any action brought under this subsection the person initiating such action shall be required to prove tainted title of the fine art by a preponderance of the evidence. In determining whether tainted title has been proven, the court shall consider factors that include, but are not limited to, a showing that a person's possession or acquisition of fine art occurred through an illegal action.

(3) No person other than a claimant to valid title may intervene in a civil action brought under subdivision (1) of this subsection or bring a separate civil action relating to the fine art during the pendency of a civil action brought under subdivision (1) of this subsection.

(d) (1) If the court finds that the defendant has valid title, the defendant shall be awarded settled title and the court shall allocate costs as it deems appropriate.

(2) If tainted title is proven to the satisfaction of the court, the court shall order that the fine art be deemed and treated as unclaimed property and order that appropriate arrangements for the safekeeping and protection of the fine art are made pending a judgment by the court settling title of the fine art as provided for under subdivision (1) of subsection (e) of this section. Payment for such arrangements shall be the responsibility of the defendant. The court may request testimony and recommendations from the parties involved before ordering such arrangements for the safekeeping and protection of the fine art.

(e) (1) In the event the fine art is deemed unclaimed property, the plaintiff shall file an action under section 47-31 of the general statutes to settle the title of the fine art.

(2) The complaint shall name all known potential claimants and provide each with notice of the action as required under section 47-31 of the general statutes. Unknown claimants may be joined as defendants in the complaint as set forth in section 47-31 of the general statutes, and it shall be the responsibility of the party that brings the complaint to make a reasonable effort to discover and notify potential claimants. The plaintiff shall not be required to make reasonable efforts to notify any foreign government that had at any point in time obtained the fine art through a noncompensated confiscation or expropriation.

(3) The court shall render judgment as set forth in subsection (f) of section 47-31 of the general statutes, determining the questions and disputes and quieting and settling title to the fine art. In determining ownership and settling title in an action under this subsection, the court, as it deems appropriate, may include the equity considerations of the claimants. In the event the court finds that no party to the action should be awarded settled title under this subsection, the fine art shall be disposed of as provided in section 50-2 of the general statutes by the municipality in which the fine art was located at the time the action was brought.

(f) (1) A plaintiff who is successful in an action under subsection (c) of this section shall receive judgment in an amount equal to: (A) The reasonable expenses which the court finds to have been necessarily incurred in bringing the civil action, including attorneys' fees and costs; and (B) an award of not less than fifteen nor more than twenty-five per cent of the value of the fine art as determined by (i) an appraisal of the fine art as may be ordered by the court, or (ii) the proceeds realized from the sale of the fine art at public auction pursuant to section 50-1 of the general statutes. In deciding the award, the court shall consider the plaintiff's efforts to investigate, bring and prosecute the case, and to find the holder of valid title.

(2) If the court awards settled title to a claimant under section 47-31 of the general statutes, the court shall order the defendant to pay the plaintiff's reasonable expenses and the award.

(3) In the event the court awards settled title to the plaintiff as a successful claimant under section 47-31 of the general statutes, the court shall order the defendant to pay the plaintiff's reasonable expenses and may waive all or part of the award.

(4) In the event no claimant is awarded settled title under section 47-31 of the general statutes, and the fine art is deemed unclaimed property under section 50-2 of the general statutes. The court shall order the defendant to pay the plaintiff's reasonable expenses and shall allocate responsibility for paying the award to either the defendant and the municipality where the fine art was located, or both, based on the court's determination of the culpability of the defendant. The municipality shall only be responsible for any payment of the award from the proceeds realized from the sale of the fine art at public auction pursuant to section 50-1 of the general statutes.

(g) A civil action for tainted title of fine art may be brought (1) not later than October 1, 2022, for discoveries of tainted title that occurred prior to October 1, 2017, or (2) not later than five years after the date of discovery of tainted title made on or after October 1, 2017.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2017	New section

Statement of Purpose:

To allow a person to bring a civil action when such person has knowledge that another person unlawfully possesses fine art.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]