The American Royalties Too Act creates a "resale royalty" system that entitles visual artists to receive a percentage of sale proceeds whenever their artworks are resold by art dealers, auction houses, or other professionals for $5,000 or more. Artists would receive 5 percent of the resale price, capped at $50,000 per transaction, with this amount adjusted annually for inflation. The law applies to U.S. citizen artists, artists in countries with similar royalty laws, and works first created in the U.S., and the royalty rights pass to heirs and descendants according to inheritance law. Designated collecting societies would handle collecting payments from art market professionals within 90 days of sale and distributing them to artists at least quarterly, with unclaimed royalties held in escrow for three years before being transferred to the Copyright Office for artist education programs. The law takes effect one year after enactment and requires a study within five years to evaluate its implementation.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.