AB 2765 Summary

• Establishes a 6-year statute of limitations for civil actions to recover fine art unlawfully taken or stolen from museums, galleries, auctioneers, or dealers, running from the claimant's actual discovery of the work's identity, whereabouts, and sufficient facts to indicate a possessory interest claim.

• Defines "actual discovery" as excluding constructive knowledge imputed by law, and specifies that identity can be satisfied by facts sufficient to determine the work is likely the one stolen, even if complete identification is uncertain.

• Applies to all pending and future actions commenced on or before December 31, 2017, including previously dismissed actions where judgments were not final or appeal periods had not expired, if the artwork was taken within 100 years of the bill's enactment.

• Codifies the Legislature's endorsement of the Naftzger v. American Numismatic Society court decision regarding the applicability of the discovery rule to thefts occurring before 1983.

• Preserves all equitable and legal affirmative defenses including laches and unclean hands, and acknowledges museums' and galleries' public role in making collection information publicly available.