The Artist’s Resale Rights Bill 2006 (Cth) is expected to be introduced soon into Parliament. The Bill seeks to grant artists a share of the resale price each time their work is resold. Resale royalties seek to reward artists as the value of their work increases, which usually occurs after the initial sale by the artist.

The Bill, if passed, would amend the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) and provides for royalties to be paid on all 'graphic or plastic art' which includes sculptures, glassware and photographs.

Under the Bill, the royalty is calculated by means of a sliding scale and ranges from 4 per cent of the sale price for works under $100,000 to 0.25 per cent for works over $1 million. The royalty will be payable only on sales subsequent to the first sale and the total royalties payable on any sale will not exceed $25,000. No royalty is payable on sales less than $2,000 or if the seller acquired the work from the author less than three years before the sale and the sale price is less than $20,000.

The right to royalties will subsist for the term of copyright, which is the life of the author plus 70 years for most works.

Some other key provisions of the bill include:

  • the right to royalties cannot be assigned (except as part of an estate or in limited circumstances) or waived
  • the royalty will be collected by a collecting society
  • 10 per cent of the royalties on re-sales over $50,000 is to be paid to a fund to support new and emerging artists.

A re-sale royalty has been on the political agenda for a number of years and was the subject of a government issues paper in 2002. An EU Directive in respect of a resale royalty (droit de suite) came into force on 13 October 2001 and is law now in most European countries.

The Bill will be welcomed by artists, however, a number of groups have expressed reservations about the effect of a resale royalty on the Australian art market in the past.

Mr Bob McMullan MP is scheduled to introduce the Bill into parliament on 27 March 2006.

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