Australia's RESALE ACT Entitles Artists to Resale Royalties

[Brigitte Martin]

The Resale Royalty Scheme, established under the Resale Royalty Right for Visual Artists Act 2009 (the Act), commenced on 9 June 2010. Under the Scheme, artists receive five per cent of the sale price when eligible artworks are resold commercially for $1000 or more. Between 10 June 2010 and 15 May 2013, there have been 6801 eligible resales that have generated over $1.5 million in royalties for 610 artists.

The Resale Royalty Right applies to original artworks by living artists and for a period of 70 years after an artist's death. It applies only on resales where the seller acquires an artwork after the resale royalty scheme commenced.

The Australian Government provided funding of $1.5 million over three years from 2009–10 to support the Scheme's establishment. In May 2012, the Australian Government announced further funding of $0.70 million over two years for the continued delivery and post-implementation Review of the Scheme.

In May 2010, after an open tender process, Copyright Agency was appointed by the Minister for the Arts as the collecting society to administer the scheme under the Act for a five-year period.

In December 2011, in response to industry feedback, the Scheme was simplified to reduce administrative and reporting requirements for art market professionals. From 12 December 2011, resales valued at less than $1000 no longer need to be reported.

Review of the Resale Royalty Scheme

On 5 June 2013 the former Arts Minister announced the commencement of a Review of the Resale Royalty Right for Visual Artists Act 2009 (the Resale Act) and the associated Scheme that commenced in June 2010.

Under the Resale Act, Australian visual artists and craft practitioners are entitled to five per cent of the resale price of eligible artworks sold commercially for $1000 or more. The objectives of the Resale Royalty Scheme are to provide visual artists with:

1. recognition of their ongoing rights in their art, and
2. additional income through royalties derived from commercial resales of their art.

• More information on the Review of the Resale Royalty Scheme.

SOURCE: http://arts.gov.au/visual-arts/resale-royalty-scheme

I know you would ask so I already looked this up for you: No, the US has no such Resale Act:

https://news.artnet.com/market/no-artist-resale-rights-for-us-for-now-220318

Quote from US article: "Seventy countries─including the UK, Australia, and Mexico─currently provide visual artists with a cut of the resale price of their work, but the US has long resisted legislating, arguing that such measures would be detrimental to the art trade."