The Protection of National Treasures and the Circulation of Cultural Goods: the Case of Written and Graphic Heritage

The law on the exportation of cultural goods of December 31st, 1992, aims, within the context marked by the suppression of customs barriers inside the European Union, to assure the preservation of works of artistic or historical interest on French territory. In order to assess the scope of the new legislative purview, across all the effects on a domain as specialized as that of written and graphic heritage, it is advisable to attempt to define the limits, the points of articulation with international bodies as well as the points of comparison with other nations' legislation, which constitute as many indicators as to its adequacy as possible in the context of the internationalization of the art market and antiquarian bookselling.
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