My life is just too exciting! Today I fly to Ottawa for the yearly face to face meeting of the CARFAC Board of Directors. I've served on this board first as the Newfoundland and Labrador representative and recently as an elected representative . It has opened my eyes to many issues that affect the lives of professional artists.
These trips are very busy with committee meetings and full board meetings that all revolve around arts advocacy on a national level. The biggest issue on the table this time is Artist Resale Right. Many countries have this benefit for artists and we are advocating for it to be included in the new changes to Canadian Copyright Law. Having Resale right would enable artists or their estates to benefit from the resale of work by a commercial gallery. The latest countries to implement this right are Australia, Republic of Ireland and the UK. In the United States only the state of California has written this right into law.
5 comments:
Good for you, Margaret, advocating for the arts and artist's rights. Though time-consuming, it must be quite satisfying!
Wonderful! Have a great trip and do let us know about the outcome of this important issue.
Yes I noticed our legislation when it happened. If any artists work is resold by an important seller or major auction house (eBay won't count) and over a certain price (from memory it was in the thousands) then the artist would get a percentage.
Fair I think. It's a pity that laws like this can't be international because it would be all too easy for a (probably rich) seller to fly to another country to avoid paying the artist.
Mark,
Resale right in California was adopted in 1977 and the work has to be over a $1000 to get the 5% royalty. The sale must take place in California or be a associated with a seller who is a resident of California. The artist must be a US citizen or a resident of California. The glitch in California is that the seller is responsible for locating the artist to pay the fee. If the artist can't be found in 90 days the fee is given to the California Arts Council which collects and distributes fees within 7 years of the sale. If the artist can't be found in that time the money is reallocated for art in public places.
Over 59 countries have resale right and if your work is sold in any country that does and you live in a country that also has resale right you will receive your fee. The gap is closing.
re-sale royaltys are only of benefit to artists who have sold a lot of art.
In the UK so far %50 of all the money collected has been paid to just twenty individual artists.
The only clear benefit of these schemes is to the managements that endlessly lobby for compulsory management rights
There is no international standard as to what is a 'resale royalty scheme'.
Australia's scheme is not retrospective and is not (for artists) compulsory . New Zealand canned the scheme before it got going, The UK is the only common law country in the whole world to have adopted a compulsory retrospective monopoly right . The UK will remain a oddity.
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