Bart Van Besien
Partner and Founder, Finnian & Columba
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Bart is an attorney, mediator and arbitrator focused on art law, intellectual property law, media law and commercial law. He is a founding member of Finnian & Columba and author of several articles on art law, copyright law, design law, trademark law, and entertainment & media law (e.g. “On copyright, parodies and appropriation art: an analysis of the decision Van Giel v. Tuymans in light of the CJEU’s decision Deckmyn v. Vandersteen”, Auteurs&Media 2015/2, 185-192; “The relocation of a work of art: infringement of moral rights?”, Auteurs&Media 2017/1, 58-72; "Copyright: about originality and minimalist designs", RABG - Intellectual Property Rights, Vol. Dec. 2018; etc.).
Bart serves as a board member of various organizations in the cultural sector in Belgium. He holds master degrees in both law and arts (history). This combination provides him with a broad background and allows him to correctly analyze disputes related to art, including authentication claims. He advises artists, collectors, galleries, museums, and art foundations on various topics related to fine art and intellectual property, including authentication disputes, export/import licenses, acquisitions, art finance (sponsorships, donations, leasing, etc.), art investments, tax optimization, collection management, artists’ representation, art preservation, cooperation agreements, exchange of artifacts, recovery of stolen or looted art, art auctions, estate planning, legacy issues, etc.
Bart’s law practice has included arbitration and mediation since 2005. He has served as Arbitrator and Mediator in a wide range of disputes at the domestic and international level. He is an arbitrator in IP disputes with FORUM (USA). Bart is also an arbitrator in domain name disputes with Cepani (Belgium), FORUM (USA), Czech Arbitration Court (Czech Republic) and ADNDRC (Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur). He was appointed to the Arbitration pool of CAfA in January 2020.
Bart ’s educational background includes: Master of Laws (KU Leuven, 2001), Master of European Union Law (ULB, 2002), and Master of Arts in History (KU Leuven, 2006). He is fluid in English, Dutch and French and has good notions of Spanish and German.
He worked for various international and Belgian law firms, for example four years as a company lawyer in Dublin (Ireland). As a university researcher at ULB Brussels and UC Berkeley, Bart analyzed media and copyright law. Furthermore he is also a recognized "Trademark Representative" at EUIPO.
Jurisdiction: Belgium