§ 233-AA — Property of other museums

§ 233-aa. Property of other museums. 1. As used in this section:\n (a) The term "museum" means any institution, including but not limited\nto museums, historical societies, zoological gardens, aquariums,\nbotanical gardens, and arboreta, having collecting as a stated purpose\nin its charter, or owning or holding collections, or intending to own or\nhold collections, that is a governmental entity or not-for-profit\ncorporation. The term museum does not include the state museum.\n (b) The term "deaccession" means the permanent removal or disposal of\nproperty from the collection of a museum by virtue of its sale,\nexchange, donation, or transfer by any means to any person.\n (c) The term "person" means any natural person, partnership,\ncorporation, company, trust association, or other entity, however\norganized.\n (d) The term "property" means any inanimate object, document,\norganism, or tangible object under a museum's care which has intrinsic\nhistoric, artistic, scientific, or cultural value.\n (e) The term "loan" means a deposit of property with a museum not\naccompanied by a transfer to such museum of title to the property.\n (f) The term "lender" means a person legally entitled to, or claiming\nto be legally entitled to, property held by the museum or, if such\nperson is deceased, the legal heirs of such person.\n (g) The term "unclaimed property" means property which is on loan to a\nmuseum and in regard to which the lender, or anyone acting legitimately\non the lender's behalf, has not contacted the museum for at least ten\nyears from the date of the beginning of the loan, if the loan was for an\nindefinite or undetermined period, or for at least five years after the\ndate upon which the loan for a definite period expired.\n (h) The term "undocumented property" means property that has been in\nthe possession of a museum for at least ten years and for which the\nmuseum cannot determine the lender, donor, or owner by making a good\nfaith and reasonable search for the identity and last known address of\nthe lender, donor or owner from the museum records and other records\nreasonably available to museum staff.\n (i) The term "conservation measures" means any actions taken to\npreserve or stabilize a property, including, but not limited to, proper\nstorage, support, cleaning, and restoration.\n 2. The acquisition of property by a museum pursuant to this section\nmust be consistent with the mission of the museum.\n 3. Prior to the acquisition of property by gift, a museum shall inform\na donor or prospective donor of the provisions of this section and shall\nprovide a donor or prospective donor with a written copy of its mission\nstatement and collections policy, which shall include policies and\nprocedures of the museum related to deaccessioning.\n 4. If the museum has knowledge of a planned bequest of any property\nprior to the death of the testator, the museum shall provide the\ntestator with a written copy of its mission statement and collections\npolicy, which shall include policies and procedures of the museum\nrelating to deaccessioning, provided, however, that any museum that\nroutinely makes its mission statement and collections policy available\non its website shall be deemed to have complied with this subdivision.\n 5. Proceeds derived from the sale of any property title to which was\nacquired by a museum pursuant to this section shall be used only for the\nacquisition of property for the museum's collection or for the\npreservation, protection, and care of the collection and shall not be\nused to defray ongoing operating expenses of the museum.\n 6. (a) Notice by mail required by this section shall be mailed to a\nlender's last known address by certified mail, return receipt requested;\nprovided, however, that notice shall be given by publication pursuant to\nparagraph (b) of this subdivision if the museum does not:\n (i) know the identity of the lender; or\n (ii) know the address of the lender; or\n (iii) receive proof that the notice mailed under this section was\nreceived within thirty days of mailing.\n (b) Notice by publication must be given at least once a week for three\nconsecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in:\n (i) the county in which the property is held by the museum; and\n (ii) the county of the lender's last address, if known.\n The date of notice under this paragraph shall be the date of the third\npublished notice.\n (c) In addition to any other information required by this section, any\nnotice given under this section must contain the following:\n (i) The name of the lender, if known.\n (ii) The last address of the lender, if known.\n (iii) A brief description of the property on loan to the museum\nreferenced in the notice.\n (iv) The date of the loan, if known, or the approximate date of\nacquisition of the property.\n (v) The name and address of the museum.\n (vi) The name, address, and telephone number of the person to be\ncontacted regarding the property.\n (d) A copy of all notices required by this section pertaining to\nproperty in the form of identifiable works of art known to have been\ncreated before nineteen hundred forty-five and to have changed hands in\nEurope during the Nazi era (1933-1945) shall be sent to The Art Loss\nRegister or any successor organization having similar purposes on or\nbefore the date on which such notices are mailed or first published\npursuant to the requirements of this section.\n 7. Unless there is a written loan agreement to the contrary, and\nnotwithstanding any other provision of law regarding abandoned or lost\nproperty, a museum that has made a good faith and reasonable search for\nthe identity and last known address of the lender from the museum\nrecords and other records reasonably available to museum staff may\nterminate a loan for unclaimed property in its possession in accordance\nwith the provisions of this subdivision.\n (a) If the museum has identified the lender and the lender's last\nknown address, the museum shall give notice by mail, in accordance with\nsubdivision six of this section, of its intent to terminate the loan.\n (b) Such notice shall be entitled "Notice of Termination" and must\ninclude a statement containing substantially the following information:\n"The records of the (name of museum) indicate that you have or may have\nproperty on loan at (name of facility). The museum is seeking to\ndetermine whether you wish:\n (i) that the museum return the property to you,\n (ii) that the property remain on loan to the museum subject to annual\nrenewal (if the museum also wishes that the property remain on loan), or\n (iii) that the museum obtain all of the lender's rights to the\nproperty, either to take the property into its collection or to dispose\nof the property, in its sole discretion. Please contact (name of\ncontact) in writing within one hundred twenty days to advise the museum\nas to which of the above alternatives you wish to follow."\n (c) If the lender does not respond to the notice of termination,\nwithin one hundred twenty days following receipt thereof, the museum\nshall send a second notice to the lender containing the following\ninformation: "On (date of first notice), the (name of museum) sent you a\nnotice concerning property that, according to our records, has been lent\nto the (name of museum). You have not responded to that notice, a copy\nof which is enclosed, and the museum will commence proceedings to\nacquire title to the property if you do not contact (name of contact) in\nwriting within one hundred twenty days of receiving this second notice."\n (d) If the lender fails to respond to the second notice within one\nhundred twenty days of receipt thereof, the museum shall acquire all of\nthe lender's rights to the property.\n (e) If the museum does not receive proof that the notices mailed\npursuant to this subdivision were received within thirty days of\nmailing, or if the museum has undertaken a good faith and reasonable\nsearch of museum records and other records reasonably available to\nmuseum staff but has been unable to determine the identity and last\nknown address of the lender, the museum may terminate the loan by\ncomplying with the procedures established in subdivision eight of this\nsection for acquisition of title to undocumented property.\n 8. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law regarding abandoned\nor lost property, a museum may acquire the rights of the lender, donor,\nor owner to undocumented property by giving notice by publication, in\naccordance with subdivision six of this section, that it is asserting\ntitle to the undocumented property.\n (b) Such notice shall be entitled "Notice of Intent to Acquire\nProperty" and must include a statement containing substantially the\nfollowing information: "The (name of museum) hereby asserts its intent\nto acquire title to the following property: (brief description of\nproperty). If you claim ownership of this property, you must contact the\nmuseum in writing and make arrangements to collect the property. If you\nfail to do so within one hundred eighty days, the museum will commence\nproceedings to acquire title to the property. If you wish to commence\nlegal proceedings to claim the property, you should consult an\nattorney."\n (c) If the museum does not receive contact from any person who can\nprovide documentation or other evidence establishing an ownership\ninterest in the property within one hundred eighty days of the date of\nnotice by publication, the museum shall cause a brief description of the\nproperty to be submitted to the comptroller, who shall post such\ndescription on the unclaimed funds registry for not less than one\nhundred eighty days.\n (d) If the museum does not receive contact from any person who can\nprovide documentation or other evidence establishing an ownership\ninterest in the property prior to or within thirty days following the\nconclusion of the unclaimed funds registry posting, the museum shall\nacquire title to the property.\n 9. The provisions of subdivisions seven and eight of this section\nshall not apply to:\n (a) any property that was created before nineteen hundred forty-five\nand changed hands due to theft, seizure, confiscation, forced sale, or\nother involuntary means in Europe during the Nazi era (1933-1945); or\n (b) notwithstanding any copy of a notice sent pursuant to subdivision\nsix of this section, any property reported as stolen to a law\nenforcement agency or insurer or The Art Loss Register or any successor\norganization having similar purposes no later than three years following\nthe theft or discovery of the theft.\n 10. A museum shall acquire all rights to undocumented property that is\nnot solicited by the museum and that is delivered to the museum or left\non museum premises after January first, two thousand nine if no person\nprovides documentation or other evidence establishing an ownership\ninterest in the property within ninety days of delivery of such property\nto the museum.\n 11.(a) The museum shall give a lender prompt written notice by mail,\nin accordance with subdivision six of this section, of any known injury\nto, or loss of, property on loan or of the need to apply conservation\nmeasures. Such notice shall advise the lender of his or her right, in\nlieu of the application of such conservation measures, to terminate the\nloan and, no later than thirty days after having received such notice,\neither retrieve the property or arrange for its isolation and retrieval.\nThe museum shall not be required to publish notice of injury or loss to\nany undocumented property.\n (b) Unless there is a written loan agreement to the contrary, the\nmuseum may apply conservation measures to property on loan to the museum\nwithout giving formal notice or first obtaining the lender's permission\nif immediate action is required to protect the property on loan or other\nproperty in the custody of the museum or if the property on loan is a\nhazard to the health and safety of the public or the museum staff;\nprovided that:\n (i) the museum is unable to reach the lender at the lender's address\nor telephone number before the time by which the museum determines\naction is necessary; or\n (ii) the lender either (1) does not respond to a request for\npermission to apply conservation measures within three days of receiving\nthe request or will not agree to the conservation measures the museum\nrecommends; or (2) fails to terminate the loan and either retrieve the\nproperty or arrange for its isolation and retrieval within thirty days\nof receiving the request.\n If immediate conservation measures are necessary to protect the\nproperty or to protect the health or safety of the public or museum\nstaff, the conditions set forth in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this\nparagraph shall not apply.\n (c) Unless provided otherwise in an agreement with the lender, if a\nmuseum applies conservation measures to property under paragraph (a) of\nthis subdivision, and provided that the measures were not required as a\nresult of such museum's own action or inaction, such museum shall\nacquire a lien on the property in the amount of the costs incurred by\nsuch museum, including, but not limited to, the cost of labor and\nmaterials, and shall not be liable for injury to or loss of the\nproperty, provided that such museum:\n (i) had a reasonable belief at the time when the action was taken that\nthe action was necessary to protect the property on loan or otherwise in\nthe custody of the museum or that such property on loan was a hazard to\nthe health and safety on the public or the museum staff; and\n (ii) exercised reasonable care in the choice and application of\nconservation measures.\n 12. A lender shall promptly notify a museum, in writing, of any change\nof address or change in the ownership of property on loan to such\nmuseum.\n 13. The museum shall maintain or continue to maintain, as the case may\nbe and to the extent such information is reasonably available, a record\nof acquisition, whether by purchase, bequest, gift, loan or otherwise,\nof property for display or collection and of deaccessioning or loan of\nproperty currently held or thereafter acquired for display or\ncollection. Any such record shall:\n (a) state the name, address, and telephone number of the person from\nwhom such property was acquired, or to whom such property was\ntransferred by deaccessioning or loan, and a description of such\nproperty, its location, if known, and the terms of the acquisition or\ndeaccessioning or loan, including any restrictions as to its use or\nfurther disposition, and any other material facts about the terms and\nconditions of the transaction, which records shall be updated if a\nlender informs the museum of a change in address, ownership of the\nproperty or other relevant information, or if the lender and museum\nnegotiate a change in the terms of the transaction;\n (b) include a copy of any document of conveyance relating to the\nacquisition or deaccessioning or loan of such property and all notices\nand other documents prepared or received by the museum; and\n (c) in the case of property acquired pursuant to this section, include\nrecords documenting the search for the identity and last known address\nof the lender, and copies of all notices and other documents prepared or\nreceived by the museum in connection with the acquisition of title to\nsuch property.\n 14. Nothing in this section shall limit the ability of a lender and\nmuseum to bind themselves to different loan provisions by written\nagreement, nor shall this section abrogate rights and obligations of a\nlender or museum pursuant to a written agreement.\n 15. Every museum which has on display any identifiable works of art\nknown to have been created before nineteen hundred forty-five and which\nchanged hands due to theft, seizure, confiscation, forced sale or other\ninvoluntary means in Europe during the Nazi era (nineteen hundred\nthirty-three--nineteen hundred forty-five) shall, to the extent\npracticable, prominently place a placard or other signage acknowledging\nsuch information along with such display.\n