Hatch, Collins introduce bipartisan Senate, House bills to provide visual artists with royalties

A bipartisan, bicameral bill offered by U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and U.S. Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) would permit visual artists to receive specifically allotted royalties when their art is sold.

The American Royalties Too (ART) Act of 2018, H.R. 6868 / S. 3488, would amend the Copyright Act to provide creators of visual art a 5 percent royalty of the price paid for their art when it is sold at auction.

“Artists deserve fair compensation for their work,” said Sen. Hatch, who sponsored S. 3488 on Sept. 25. “Unfortunately, under our current laws, artists don’t share in the benefits when their work later increases in value.”

To “help remedy this injustice,” Sen. Hatch said the proposed legislation would help “ensure artists get a fair shake.”

If enacted, the bill would amend United States Code to secure the rights of visual artists to copyright and provide for resale royalties in an amount equal to the lesser of 5 percent of the price of the copy of the work of visual art as sold at auction or $35,000, according to text of the bill.

“Collectors and auction houses make millions when art is resold. It’s only fair that the artist who created the work in the first place receive a share as well,” said Sen. Hatch, who was joined in introducing S. 3488 by original cosponsor U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT).

Rep. Collins is the original cosponsor of H.R. 6868, which also was introduced on Sept. 25 by U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).

“American artists should be rewarded, not penalized, for the uniqueness of their work,” Rep. Collins said. “The ART Act would allow visual artists to reap the benefits of their talent and labor on a playing field that’s finally level with other countries. Creativity is an American value, which makes treating creative expressions fairly an American virtue.”

Rep. Nadler, who said he has been introducing a version of the bill since 2011, noted that more than 70 other countries already provide resale royalties.

“We owe it to American artists to do what is right,” he said this week. “We need to pass this legislation to ensure they benefit if the value of their work increases over time and to make certain that they receive payments for their works sold in other countries.”

H.R. 6868 and S. 3488 are under consideration by their respective judiciary committees.