The Illicit Trade in Cultural Property Online: A Critical Analysis of Legal Frameworks, Gaps and Opportunities

The illicit trade in cultural property has inevitably adapted to technological developments. While traditionally the illicit trade took place on-the-ground, the emergence of social media and e-commerce has necessarily created new and largely unregulated environment for the circulation of illicit cultural property. Although international and domestic efforts to diminish the illicit trade have focused on physical marketplaces and traditional actors, the digital shift has created new challenges for policymakers, law enforcement, and scholars. Digital marketplaces are characterised by anonymity, transnational reach, and speed of access, undermining the existing legal frameworks and enforcement strategies. This thesis examines the legal and evidentiary challenges posed by the expansion of the trade to social media and e-commerce platforms. It investigates why existing international and domestic legal frameworks are insufficient to have a meaningful impact on diminishing the digitally mediated illicit trade. Scholars have recognised the Internet's significance for unlawful market in cultural goods, however there is limited scholarship on how the foundational legal concepts and evidentiary standards related to trade apply (or do not apply) in the digital environment. This thesis fills this gap by adopting doctrinal legal methodology and critically examining the existing terminology of the law which applies to circulation of cultural property, but also specific legal obligations imposed on the new stakeholders in the illicit trade – social media and e-commerce platforms. It also evaluates the effectiveness of self-regulatory efforts adopted by digital marketplaces in addressing illicit trade in cultural property. The analysis suggests there are significant gaps in the current terminology regulating trade in cultural property and that regulations applicable to digital marketplaces remain insufficiently tailored to the issue. For this reason, the thesis argues that a reconceptualisation of key legal terms is necessary, along with more targeted frameworks that recognise the distinct risks posed by online cultural property trade.<p></p>

Author dc:creator

• Natalie Olszowy (21052937)

• cultural property
• cultural heritage law
• illicit trade
• social media
• online marketplace

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved
• Open Access after 2027-03-02

Identifier

10779/exe.31702504.v1

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:figshare.com:article/31702504