Wright Letters

[Freddie Maguire]

Originally Posted by benjulmag

As I understand the law, if you are slow or lax to assert your rights and know or reasonably should know your inaction will be to the detriment of good faith third parties, then you will be deemed to have waived those rights. In fact, in the art world, in regard to items stolen by the Third Reich, isn't some of this codified into law? Aren't individuals/heirs who reasonably should have taken actions to assert their claims (e.g., listing the stolen artwork with an international registry) prevented from years later belatedly doing so at the expense of good faith purchasers?

It sound like you've done quite a bit of background research on the legalities of this issue. I can appreciate the work you've put in. (Although, a cynic might question your motives.)

But, do you feel it's proper to cite the NAZI theft of art work as precedent? For one, the theft in our case is from a public institution. Additionally, the original owners of the stolen artwork in the cases mentioned above are clearly dead and had little recourse for retribution (In fact it took years for thefts to be acknowledged thus the late claims by descendants). And lastly, I find it in very poor taste. We are talking about baseball cards, after all.

Originally Posted by benjulmag

To respond, I did do my due diligence. I scrupulously examined the cdv to see if it had any identifying marks to indicate it was stolen property...

While the stamps or markings are probably the best way for the NYPL to prove ownership of stolen materials, of course, you could check the edges of your Knickerbocker material to see if they match up with the sliced pages that remain in the Knickerbocker Correspondence scrapbooks at the NYPL.

I do appreciate the hard work you appear to have done. And, you obviously have a great understanding of the law.

I think you'll find this interesting: http://www.law.cornell.edu/nyctap/I91_0018.htm

It's a legal precedent for the State of New York in a matter similar to this (more similar than NAZI crimes, I hope.)