At the moment there are rumours (here and here) that, following the EU and Australia,
also the US is considering adopting a law that would allow resale rights at a
federal level.
As far as this blogger is aware, the only US state that has ever had a
law on resale royalty is California. However, last year the US District Court for the
Central District of California struck down the California Resale Royalty Act, holding that
it violated US Constitution's Interstate Commerce Clause. An appeal is currently pending before the Ninth Circuit, which is expected to issue its decision later this year.
The proposed US law is
based on the implementation of resale rights at a rate of
7%, only applicable to resales conducted in auction houses whose
annual turnovers is over $25m, on the condition that the price of
these sales corresponds to the original sale price, allowing for an
inflation of $10,000. Half of these sums would go towards artists and
their beneficiaries, and the rest would go towards non-lucrative organisations,
in order to increase their budgets for contemporary art.
The 1709 Blog has received a request from its
Australian friends to learn more about what is going on in the US. Can any readers provide further details of this proposed
piece of legislation, in particular what kind of resale right the US is
considering introducing?
