CZECH REPUBLIC Law and Practice Contributed by: Daniela Kozáková, ŠIROKÝ ZRZAVECKÝ, attorneys-at-law
The purchaser must declare a preference without undue delay following notification of the defect to the seller (this is usually made simultaneously). Given that, in most cases, sellers of fake artwork will not have the original artwork at their disposal, they will very likely be unable to remedy the situation by removing the defect or delivering a new asset. With the authentic piece not delivered and the buyer unlike - ly to wish to keep the fake, a discount would not be appropriate. Therefore, the only claim that would be practical under the circumstances would be the imme - diate cancellation of the contract with reimbursement of the full purchase price charged for the item. In addi - tion, damages that would not be covered by claims for the seller’s liability for defects would be available to the purchaser. The latter could also initiate criminal proceedings against the seller. In addition to the liability for defects, under certain circumstances the purchaser may also seek to have the contract declared invalid due to an error (Section 583 of the Civil Code). If the purchaser acted in error regarding the authenticity of the work and the seller caused such an error or must have known about it, the contract may be considered relatively invalid. In such a case, the parties must return what has already been received (the artwork for the full purchase price). The right to claim the invalidity of the contract or the right to damages is subject to a three-year subjec - tive limitation period. This period begins on the day the purchaser becomes aware (or could have become aware with due care) of the error or the damage and the person liable. However, there is also an objec - tive limitation period of ten years from the date the error occurred or the damage was caused, after which the right can no longer be successfully enforced in court if the counterparty raises a statute of limitations defence.
tions or sets of these that are significant to history, literature, art, science or technology, and meet the criteria contained in Act 71/1994 Coll., on sale and export of objects of cultural value (the “Cultural Export Act”). Governed by Act No 20/1987 Coll., on state monu - ment care, cultural treasures are: • important documents of historical development, way of life and environment from the earliest times to the present, with manifestations of the creative abilities and work of people from various fields of human activity, showing their revolutionary, histori - cal, artistic, scientific and technical values; and • directly related to important personalities and historical events, provided that they were declared by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic as cultural treasures. Cultural treasures enjoy a higher degree of protection than objects of cultural value, with “national treasures” – which must be declared by government decree – being the most protected. National treasures are also subject to Act No 20/1987 Coll., on state monument care. An artwork may be declared a cultural treasure inde - pendently, as a movable cultural treasure or as part of a set of items declared to be cultural treasure; in this type of case, artworks can, for example, be part of a building’s inventory. Czech law also recognises heritage reserves, which may be defined as such by decree for their cultural monuments or archaeological finds. Heritage zones are declared by the Ministry of Culture and are the areas with a smaller proportion of cultural monuments than heritage reserves, or historical areas or parts of a section of landscape with significant cultural value that meet protection conditions. Cultural treasures, national cultural treasures, heritage reserves, heritage zones, protective zones of immov - able cultural monuments and immovable national cultural monuments are all entered into the Central List of Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic
5. Cultural Heritage 5.1 Defining Cultural Heritage
Czech law differs for objects of cultural value and cultural treasures. Cultural treasures are movable or immovable individual items, or sets thereof. Objects of cultural value are products of nature or human crea -
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