First of all - the following statements do not replace legal advice and make no claim to correctness or completeness, any liability is excluded. In specific cases, please contact your local authorities or a legal advisor of your choice. The following statements are only intended to raise awareness of the relevance of this topic in connection with used pianos. Details can be found here on the website of the Bundesamtes für Naturschutz (BfN) and here on the pages of the EU Commission.
What has changed?
With effect from 19.01.2022, the EU has suspended the trade in ivory and ivory products and also objects in which processed ivory is present (i.e. also piano key pads) and only permitted it in certain exceptional cases subject to strict rules. The purpose of this is to prohibit the trade in ivory and/or make it unprofitable. In principle, this also affects all pianos whose white keys are covered with ivory. Before 19.01.2022, trade was already restricted, so that a CITES document from the BfN was required for every border crossing into or out of the EU. Pianos with ivory on the keys built after 1975 may no longer be traded at all. Incidentally, even before 19.01.2022, intra-European trade in musical instruments with ivory was only permitted without a certificate if the ivory could be proven to date from before 1947 and had not been altered after 1947. A retrospective certificate cannot be applied for. EC certificates issued before January 19, 2022 will lose their validity on January 19, 2023. With the tightening from 19.01.2022, an exemption permit must now be obtained from the relevant competent authority for EVERY purchase / sale, even within the EU and also within each country. Without such a certificate, trading is punishable by law!
Can I sell a piano with ivory keys on Ebay?
No. Not for a long time. Our most recent inquiry with Ebay Classifieds (January 2023) again revealed: "Our policy under prohibited products states: Trade in ivory and all ivory products, regardless of the origin of the ivory or ivory product incl. prehistoric ivory. This ban has been in force on eBay classifieds for over 10 years. Therefore, no pianos may be offered on our site that have a marketing certificate.". This means that pianos with ivory keytops may no longer be offered on eBay - regardless of whether they have a certificate or not. This usually also applies to other portals. Nevertheless, there are many new advertisements every day that contravene this ban. Following the tightening of the EU rules, controls are now also increasing, so it can be assumed that this punishable act will be sanctioned more frequently in future.
Does this apply to any piano with ivory?
Yes, pianos with ivory built after 1975 may no longer be traded. Pianos built before 1975 can be offered with a marketing certificate. And - this tightening of the law affects not only the commercial trade, but every purchase and sale, i.e. every change of ownership of a piano that has ivory on the keys. Of course, this also applies to individual keys or entire keyboards if they are sold separately. Pianos from before 1947 are considered antiques and now also require such a permit. A permit is only issued if the piano is not used exclusively as an exhibit - i.e. it is or can be used as a musical instrument.
Picture: FASZINATIONPIANOLA
Is this a matter for the buyer or the seller?
In principle, every seller is obliged to have a corresponding permit before offering such an instrument. However, all buyers are also obliged to check before purchase whether the seller has such a certificate for the instrument. If not, the purchase without a certificate is also punishable by law. If pianos with ivory keyboards are part of a trade, certificates are always required.
Can I still own a piano with ivory key tops?
If the instrument is and remains in the same private possession, no EU certificate is required in principle - this also includes inheritances and relocations in which a piano is part of private property. However, if several instruments are privately owned, the question is whether this still falls under 'normal possessions' and whether non-commercial interests really clearly predominate here. A matter of interpretation! If in doubt, it is certainly better to clarify the case with the local authorities. If an EU certificate can be obtained for the instrument, it could be useful to have this issued here as a precautionary measure in order to be prepared for future eventualities.
Is it possible to give a piano with ivory as a gift?
Trade' naturally refers to any exchange of property with consideration (money or exchange in kind) - including all purchases and sales between private individuals. However, in the definition of the corresponding regulation, 'trade' is also listed: Import, export, re-export, use, transportation or transfer - which covers pretty much everything, possibly also the gratuitous transfer, i.e. gift, which would not generally be understood as trade. A gift from private to private is possibly still possible - but without guarantee. A gift from private to commercial or vice versa, on the other hand, is probably not permitted in a strict interpretation of this regulation without prior certification, as commercial interests are involved here. Any commercial work on an affected piano by a third party, i.e. repair, transport, storage, etc. without an EU certificate is at least a legal gray area. „Verkauf“ ist in der Begriffsklärung der entsprechenden Verordnung gleichgesetzt mit: jede Form von Verkauf, Vermieten, Tausch oder Austausch – und: sinnverwandte Ausdrücke werden entsprechend ausgelegt. Anhand dieser Begriffsbestimmungen wird deutlich, wie weit die Regelungen ausgelegt werden können. Es empfiehlt sich, rechtzeitig im Vorfeld mit der zuständigen Behörde den konkreten Fall zu klären. Selbst Museen und Sammlungen unterliegen diesen strengen Regelungen, und sollten die jeweilige Sachlage mit dem zuständigen Amt klären.
Remove piano key tops?
It actually seems to be permitted and possible without certification to buy or sell a piano without the keys or without the ivory key pads, provided that this circumstance is regulated correctly in the contract and is also realistically recognizable in the price. However, most pianos without keys will lose almost all of their value, as the cost of rebuilding them is in the four-digit range. It is possible to remove the existing ivory and sell the piano with keys, but without the ivory key coverings. However, this should be carried out by a specialist company, as the risk of damaging the keys is high. Quite apart from the fact that removing the covering does not appear to make much sense, the legal regulations on the handling and possible disposal of ivory must also be observed here. It is therefore better to obtain a certificate first and then keep the instrument with the original coverings.
Validity of the certificate?
If a marketing permit has been issued that remains with the instrument, it can also be resold with this document - the certificates can be issued without a validity period. A new permit must only be obtained if changes are made to the ivory.
How much ivory is in the piano?
The vast majority of pianos from before 1947 have ivory as the key covering for the white keys. However, some also have a covering made of bone or plastic (see also our Article 'How is the piano keyboard preserved?') - this is not always easy to distinguish. At that time, the key coverings were glued to the wooden key with bone glue, usually divided into front / back and front pieces - recognizable by the dust deposits on the cut edges. Sometimes the small front pieces are not made of ivory but of plastic. Depending on the size of the keys, the number of keys, the type of covering and the thickness of the ivory covering, this involves approx. 50 keys with approx. 4-6g of covering each, i.e. a total of approx. 200g - 300g.
Picture: FASZINATIONPIANOLA
Where can I get such a certificate?
Die Bescheinigungen erhält man bei den zuständigen Landesbehörden, meistens dem zuständigen Landratsamt. Die Kosten für solch einen Antrag sind je nach Bundesland unterschiedlich. Für den Antrag werden detaillierte Informationen zum Instrument erforderlich, um Typ, Baujahr, Zustand sowie v.a. Details zum vorhandenen Elfenbein nachzuweisen. Manche heute noch existierende Klavierhersteller stellen auf Anfrage sogenannte Herstellerbescheinigungen aus. Manchmal wird auch ein unabhängiges Gutachten gefordert, zur Bestätigung, dass das Elfenbein seit 1975 unverändert ist. In Ermangelung von originalen Herstellerunterlagen zu den alten Pianos erfordert dies Expertenwissen und Zugang zu Fachunterlagen.
What about private advertisements?
The new law applies to every purchase and sale, i.e. also to every advertisement on classified ad marketplaces in newspapers or on the Internet - whether private or commercial. For this reason, the major portals also prohibit advertisements on the Internet that mention the 'ivory' button coating. Although the omission of this term usually allows the advertisement to be placed, in our opinion the advertiser is still acting unlawfully. So be careful.
Does this make sense for old pianos?
The question no longer really arises, as it is now the law. The tightening of the rules became necessary because all previous measures have failed to curb the illegal ivory trade - on the contrary, it has reached record levels. According to the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), it is estimated that between 20,000 and 30,000 African elephants are poached every year. Elephant populations are also threatened by the increasing involvement of global criminal trade networks. In the course of formulating the rules, the EU involved experts and association representatives - including from the musical instrument and antiques industry - so that the strict exemptions for musical instruments were made possible. It is right to do everything possible to prevent the illegal trade in ivory. Even if probably none of it ends up on piano keys today - and even old ivory coverings on piano keys no longer save the lives of elephants - the aim is to stop the trade in ivory and ivory products completely and thus put an end to this cruel business.
Does this also apply to disposal?
Even before that, it was wrong to simply dispose of pianos, as they are usually simply burnt completely and produce harmful slag - see also our Beitrag ‘Wie entsorge ich mein Klavier?’. Nach unserer Auffassung erlaubt das neue Gesetz die Abgabe an einen Entsorger, sofern keine Bezahlung für das Piano im Sinne eines Handels vorgesehen ist. Es ist in jedem Falle besser, das Piano sachgerecht recyceln zu lassen, sodass auch etwaiges Elfenbein dokumentiert für die Reparatur anderer alter Pianos erhalten bleibt, soweit das möglich ist.
Why ivory?
For many people who deal with old pianos, ivory keyboard coverings are quite normal - even a welcome detail in terms of authenticity, value retention and restorability. The history of the use of ivory in piano making could fill an article of its own, so here are just a few notes on its historical classification. Early on, bone and ivory were used as a beautiful and, above all, very durable material for keyboard coverings in instrument making.
In the heyday of piano making between 1850 and 1920, huge quantities of ivory were needed. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were already many reports in the specialist media about the lack of ivory supplies because the extinction of elephants made the raw material so rare and expensive. Despite this, 70,000 - 100,000 elephants were still being killed for ivory every year, especially in Africa. In the decades before that, the figure was probably considerably higher. Carved handicrafts, billiard balls and piano keyboard coverings were the main products. In 1913, 75% of the approx. 140,000 pianos produced in Germany alone were still fitted with ivory key pads, in 1929 it was still 35% of the approx. 65,000 pianos produced. Ethical concerns hardly played a role in this development - the decline in the use of ivory was caused solely by economic factors and soon also by regulatory restrictions.
The first substitute products with elaborate names such as 'Elfenit' could not keep up with the durability and feel of ivory, despite advertising to the contrary. Until the early 1980s, pianos with ivory as a key covering were still occasionally offered from so-called leftover stocks by piano manufacturers. Today, ivory no longer plays a role as a key covering in new pianos, as substitute products made of plastic have the same or better visual and tactile properties - and above all are considerably cheaper.
Picture: 'Der Pianofortebau - Theorie und Praxis des Baues der Flügel und Pianinos' (1909, Blüthner and Gretschel)
