Museum Law - 4th Edition by Marilyn E Phelan (Hardcover)

About the Book

From one of America's foremost experts in museum and cultural heritage law, Museum Law: A Guide for Officers, Directors, and Counsel is a comprehensive guide to both U.S. and international laws and conventions affecting museums, art galleries, natural and historic heritage, an...

Book Synopsis

From one of America's foremost experts in museum and cultural heritage law, Museum Law: A Guide for Officers, Directors, and Counsel is a comprehensive guide to both U.S. and international laws and conventions affecting museums, art galleries, natural and historic heritage, and other cultural organizations. The fourth edition details laws protecting art and artists, cultural and natural heritage, U.S. and international law, regulations for tax-exempt status, and much more. This book also includes an unprecedented look at museums' unrelated business taxable income from such increasingly common activities as gifts shops, snack bars, travel tours, and sponsorships. No museum, cultural heritage site, or historical site can afford to be without it.

Review Quotes

Dr. Phelan's approach to the protection of cultural properties is pragmatic and informative honed from her many years of experiences teaching museum and international law at Texas Tech University, research and her previous books as well as her work with the International Council of Museums. Dr. Phelan's passion is infectious. This book does not disappoint and it will be a mainstay in any cultural property professional's library.

This expanded edition of the now classic Museum Law by Marilyn Phelan is an amazing volume. As legal issues for museums grow more numerous and complex, this volume offers solid direction and sage advice in the areas of governance and collections. Furthermore, it delivers an invaluable international perspective that reflects the growing awareness of international concerns affecting collections in US museums. This thought-provoking volume is a critical tool in maintaining the legal health of a museum and should be consulted frequently. Applicable to all types and sizes of museums, it is a must-read not only for museum directors, but for board members and curators alike. For graduate Museum Studies programs educating emerging professionals, this is an essential and illuminating volume appropriate to a variety of courses dealing with governance, collections, and heritage laws.


Unlike some museum law reference books that relegate cases to footnotes, Professor Phelan weaves them into her chapters, making them an important part of the discussion. This is an effective way to draw attention to real scenarios. In the end, it is the case law that will inform how a decision should be made. Case law gets lost in footnotes, and practitioners waste time looking for cases on point after reading basic summaries in treatises. Professor Phelan's treatment of the cases prevents this from happening.

About the Author

Marilyn E. Phelan, JD, (with honors), University of Texas School of Law, PhD, Texas Tech University, was the recipient of the Paul Whitfield Horn Professor of Law at Texas Tech University, which is one of the highest honors Texas Tech University can bestow on its professors. Phelan also has served as a professor of museum science at Texas Tech University. Phelan is a certified public accountant and is certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization as a specialist in tax law. She was given a YWCA Woman of Excellence award and was named a Super Lawyer by Texas Monthly. In 2011, the American Bar Association Section of Business Law, Nonprofit Committee, awarded her the ABA Outstanding Nonprofit Academic Award for contributions and achievements in the field of nonprofit law.