In place of rumored legislative efforts last summer, legislation has been formally introduced to codify under U.S. federal law droite de suite rights of resale for artists, under certain circumstances.
Apart from California—whose California Resale Royalty Act has been in the news recently for lawsuits against Christie’s, Sotheby’s and eBay—the United States generally affords artists no claim to the proceeds of any sale of their work after the original one. In California, and in Europe, a different presumption is applied. Opinions differ sharply over whether these laws help artists or simply drive sales to alternate venues to avoid the payments.
Now those arguments are on the national stage. A proposal by Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York, and Senator Herb Kohl, Democrat of Wisconsin, would set aside 7 percent of the proceeds of an artwork sale of more than $10,000 at an auction house. That would in turn be split in half for an acquisition fund for non-profit museums.
Responses have been strong, ranging from arguments that these payments to artists are long overdue, to the opposite take that the law would simply push would-be-sellers to the private market, and away from auction houses. So far, the doubters seem more vocal than the supporters, but perhaps that is simply because the supporters have a possible law going forward. The Freakonomics folks have a creative take as well.
There has been little general circulation coverage of the bill, certainly when compared to the Stop Online Piracy Act, but this is just getting started.
