Italian law on art authentication: heirs vs experts

Italian law lacks clear rules on who has the right to authenticate artworks, creating legal uncertainty. The Cultural Heritage Code (Art. 64, Legislative Decree 42/2004) requires sellers to provide documentation of authenticity or probable attribution, but does not specify who is authorized to issue such certificates. Reference is made to copyright law (Law 633/41) and moral rights, which include the right to claim or disclaim authorship. After an artist's death, moral rights can be exercised by specific relatives: spouse, children, parents, descendants, siblings, and their descendants. Doctrine and jurisprudence offer conflicting solutions. In July 2004, the Milan Court ruled that authentication can only be performed by heirs, in a case involving Mario Schifano's heirs and the Mario Schifano Foundation against A.M. Marieni Governatori. In December 2004, the same court ruled differently for artist Pippo Oriani, stating that only the author, not heirs or foundations, can claim or disclaim authorship, and that a foundation publicly disavowing third-party certificates may be defamatory. The article, by lawyer Raffaella Pellegrino, was published in Artribune Magazine #29.