The new Resale Royalty Right for Visual Artists Bill 2008 (Bill) seeks to target high resale gains made on the secondary art market. Under the Bill, resale royalties will apply:
- to original works of graphic or plastic art (not including buildings, drawings or models for a building, circuit layouts or manuscripts)
- to works created or acquired after the legislation has been enacted
- to commercial resales (that is not the first sale) by art market professionals for more than $1000
- during the artist’s life and for 70 years afterwards, and
- at five per cent of commercial resale value.
The royalty right will not be able to be:
- sold or charged
- waived, or
- shared or repaid (unless between joint creators or their heirs).
Buyers, sellers and art market professionals are all jointly and severally responsible for payment from the time of sale. A collecting society, appointed by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Peter Garrett, will be responsible for royalty collection and management.
The Bill has been described as a landmark for visual artists. However, artist lobby groups have been critical of this version of the Bill. The Coalition for an Australian Resale Royalty has started a petition seeking that the Bill be amended to apply immediately to all works and the threshold lowered to $500.
This article was written by Amalia Stone, Senior Associate and Ash Von Schwan, Solicitor, Sydney.
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