Copyright Office Wants Your Thoughts on Possible Resale Royalty Law

The Copyright Office has been asked by Congress to review how the current copyright legal system affects and supports visual artists; and how a federal resale royalty right for visual artists would affect current and future practices of groups or individuals involved in the creation, licensing, sale, exhibition, dissemination, and preservation of works of visual art.  This initial notice of inquiry seeks comments from the public on the means by which visual artists exploit their works under existing law as well as the issues and obstacles that may be encountered when considering a federal resale royalty right in the United States. Comment accepted until November 5, 2012.

Interestingly, Daniel Grant just recently published an article arguing that the UK resale royalty law has been “pretty irrelevant” to sales.