Resale Royalties Bill Proposed for Visual Artists

Siegelaub’s “Artist’s Reserved Rights…” Agreement.

On Wednesday, the American Royalties Too (ART) Act of 2015, which would give visual artists resale royalties, was reintroduced by senators Tammy Baldwin and Ed Markey and the representative Jerrold Nadler. If passed, the Act would require a 5% royalty payment on works of visual art sold at auction for more than $5,000 to be paid to the artist or the artist’s estate. The Act seeks to correct a perceived inequity between visual artists, who do not typically benefit from any increase in the value of art beyond a first sale, and artists who produce books, music, or film, who do benefit from derivative or reproducible income.

The Act had been proposed in February 2014 (and previously in 1986 and 1987) but Congress failed to vote on it prior to the end of the legislative session last summer.  Supporters believe the current proposal is better positioned this time because of increased support of other government agencies. The U.S. Copyright Office recently published an analysis in support of resale royalties for visual artists. Over 70 other countries have already enacted a resale royalty provision for artists, though the implementation of the Author Resale Right in the EU has been unsteady at times, drawing criticism and retaliation from art dealers and auction houses.

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Tags: art, Art Law, artlaw, congress, law, painting, royalties