51-708. Limitation of actions; liability.

(1) An action shall not be brought against a museum for damages because of injury to or loss of property loaned to the museum more than three years from the date the museum gives the lender or claimant notice of the injury or loss or ten years from the date of the injury or loss, whichever occurs earlier.

(2) An action shall not be brought against a museum to recover property on loan more than one year after the date the museum gives the lender or claimant notice of its intent to terminate the loan or notice of acquisition of title to undocumented property.

(3) An action shall not be brought against a museum to recover property on loan more than seven years from the date of the last written contact between the lender or claimant and the museum as evidenced by the museum's records.

(4) A lender or claimant is considered to have donated loaned property to the museum if the lender fails to file an action to recover the property on loan to the museum within the time periods specified in subsections (1) through (3) of this section.

(5) Notwithstanding subsections (3) and (4) of this section, a lender or claimant who was not given notice as provided in the Museum Property Act that the museum intended to terminate a loan as provided in section 51-704 and who proves that the museum received an adequate notice of intent to preserve an interest in loaned property, which satisfies all of the requirements of section 51-706, within the seven years immediately preceding the filing of an action to recover the property, may recover the property or, if the property has been disposed of, the reasonable value of the property at the time it was disposed of plus interest at the legal rate.

(6) A museum is not liable at any time, in the absence of a court order, for returning property to the original lender even if a claimant other than the lender has filed a notice of intent to preserve an interest in property. If a person claims competing interests in property in the possession of a museum, the burden is upon the claimant to prove the interest in an action in equity initiated by a claimant. A museum is not liable at any time for returning property to an uncontested claimant who produced reasonable proof of ownership or the existence of a security interest pursuant to section 51-706.

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