I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1881 

To amend title 17, United States Code, to secure the rights of visual artists 

to copyright, to provide for resale royalties, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 16, 2015 

Mr. NADLER (for himself, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. CHU of California, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. MENG, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and 

Mr. POCAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 17, United States Code, to secure the rights 

of visual artists to copyright, to provide for resale royalties, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Royalties 

5 Too Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 Section 101 of title 17, United States Code, is 

8 amended— 


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1 (1) by inserting after the definition of ‘‘archi2 tectural work’’ the following: 

3 ‘‘An ‘auction’ means a public sale at which a 

4 work of visual art is sold to the highest bidder and 

5 which is run by an entity that sold not less than 

6 $1,000,000 of works of visual art during the pre7 vious year.’’; 

8 (2) by inserting after the definition of ‘‘Pic9 torial, graphic, and sculptural works’’ the following: 

10 ‘‘For purposes of section 106(b), ‘price’ means 

11 the aggregate of all installments paid in cash or in12 kind by or on behalf of a purchaser for a work of 

13 visual art as the result of the auction of that work.’’; 

14 (3) by inserting after the definition of ‘‘reg15 istration’’ the following: 

16 ‘‘For purposes of sections 106(b) and 

17 701(b)(5), ‘sale’ means transfer of ownership or 

18 physical possession of a work of visual art as the re19 sult of the auction of that work.’’; and 

20 (4) in the definition of ‘‘work of visual art’’, by 

21 striking ‘‘A ‘work of visual art’ is—’’ and all that 

22 follows through ‘‘by the author.’’ and inserting the 

23 following: ‘‘A ‘work of visual art’ is a painting, 

24 drawing, print, sculpture, or photograph, existing ei25 ther in the original embodiment or in a limited ediVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Apr 25, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1881.IH H1881

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1 tion of 200 copies or fewer that bear the signature 

2 or other identifying mark of the author and are con3 secutively numbered by the author, or, in the case 

4 of a sculpture, in multiple cast, carved, or fabricated 

5 sculptures of 200 or fewer that are consecutively 

6 numbered by the author and bear the signature or 

7 other identifying mark of the author.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS. 

9 Section 106 of title 17, United States Code, is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 

12 ‘‘Subject to sections 107 through 122’’; 

13 (2) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

14 end; 

15 (3) in paragraph (6), by striking the period at 

16 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

17 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(7) in the case of a work of visual art, to col19 lect a royalty for the work if the work is sold by a 

20 person other than the author of the work for a price 

21 of not less than $5,000 as the result of an auction. 

22 ‘‘(b) COLLECTION OF ROYALTY.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The collection of a royalty 

24 under subsection (a)(7) shall be conducted in accord25 ance with this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CALCULATION OF ROYALTY.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The royalty shall be 

3 an amount equal to the lesser of— 

4 ‘‘(i) 5 percent of the price paid for the 

5 work of visual art; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) $35,000. 

7 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENT OF AMOUNT.—In 2016 

8 and each year thereafter, the dollar amount de9 scribed in subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be in10 creased by an amount equal to the product of— 

11 ‘‘(i) that dollar amount; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment de13 termined under section 1(f)(3) of the In14 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 for the year, 

15 determined by substituting ‘calender year 

16 2016’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in subpara17 graph (B) thereof. 

18 ‘‘(3) COLLECTION OF ROYALTY.— 

19 ‘‘(A) COLLECTION.—Not later than 90 

20 days after the date on which the auction occurs, 

21 the entity that conducts the auction shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) collect the royalty; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) pay the royalty to a visual art24 ists’ copyright collecting society. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTION.—Not fewer than 4 

2 times each year, the visual artists’ copyright 

3 collecting society shall distribute to the author 

4 or his or her successor as copyright owner an 

5 amount equal to the difference between— 

6 ‘‘(i) the net royalty attributable to the 

7 sales of the author; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) the reasonable administrative ex9 penses of the collecting society as deter10 mined by regulations issued under section 

11 701(b)(5). 

12 ‘‘(4) FAILURE TO PAY ROYALTY.—Failure to 

13 pay a royalty provided for under this subsection 

14 shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) constitute an infringement of copy16 right; and 

17 ‘‘(B) be subject to— 

18 ‘‘(i) the payment of statutory damages 

19 under section 504(c); and 

20 ‘‘(ii) liability for payment of the full 

21 royalty due. 

22 ‘‘(5) RIGHT TO COLLECT ROYALTY.—The right 

23 to collect a royalty under this subsection may not be 

24 sold, assigned, or waived except as provided in sec25 tion 201. 


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1 ‘‘(6) ELIGIBILITY TO RECEIVE ROYALTY PAY2 MENT.—The royalty shall be paid to— 

3 ‘‘(A) any author of a work of visual art— 

4 ‘‘(i) who is a citizen of or domiciled in 

5 the United States; 

6 ‘‘(ii) who is a citizen of or domiciled 

7 in a country that provides resale royalty 

8 rights; or 

9 ‘‘(iii) whose work of visual art is first 

10 created in the United States or in a coun11 try that provides resale royalty rights; or 

12 ‘‘(B) the successor as copyright owner of 

13 an author described in subparagraph (A).’’. 

14 SEC. 4. NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT. 

15 Section 401 of title 17, United States Code, is 

16 amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(e) NON-APPLICABILITY TO WORKS OF VISUAL

18 ART.—The provisions of this section shall not apply to a 

19 work of visual art.’’. 

20 SEC. 5. COPYRIGHT OFFICE. 

21 Section 701(b) of title 17, United States Code, is 

22 amended by— 

23 (1) redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph 

24 (6); and 

25 (2) inserting after paragraph (4) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(5) Issue regulations governing visual artists’ 

2 copyright collecting societies described in section 

3 106, that— 

4 ‘‘(A) establish a process by which an entity 

5 is determined to be and designated as a visual 

6 artists’ copyright collecting society, that— 

7 ‘‘(i) requires that a visual artists’ 

8 copyright collecting society authorized to 

9 administer royalty collections and distribu10 tions under this title shall— 

11 ‘‘(I) have prior experience in li12 censing the copyrights of authors of 

13 works of visual art in the United 

14 States; or 

15 ‘‘(II) have been authorized by not 

16 fewer than 10,000 authors of works of 

17 visual art, either directly or through 

18 reciprocal agreements with foreign 

19 collecting societies, to license the 

20 rights granted under section 106; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) prohibits an entity from being 

22 designated as a visual artists’ copyright 

23 collecting society if, during a period of not 

24 less than 5 years that begins after the date 

25 on which the entity is designated as a visVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Apr 25, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1881.IH H1881

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1 ual artists’ copyright collecting society, the 

2 entity does not distribute directly to each 

3 author, or to the successor as copyright 

4 owner of each author, the amount of the 

5 royalties required to be distributed under 

6 section 106(b)(3)(B); 

7 ‘‘(B) determine a reasonable amount of ad8 ministrative expenses that a visual artists’ copy9 right collecting society may deduct from the 

10 royalties payable to an author of a work of vis11 ual art under section 106(b)(3); and 

12 ‘‘(C) establish a process by which— 

13 ‘‘(i) not less frequently than annually, 

14 a visual artists’ copyright collecting society 

15 may request from any entity that conducts 

16 auctions a list of each work of visual art 

17 sold in those auctions that is by an author 

18 represented by the collecting society; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) an author of a work of visual art 

20 may obtain from a visual artists’ copyright 

21 collecting society any information re22 quested by the collecting society under 

23 clause (i) that relates to a sale of a work 

24 of visual art by the author, including the 


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1 amount of any royalty paid to the col2 lecting society on behalf of the author.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. STUDY REQUIRED. 

4 Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment 

5 of this Act, the Register of Copyrights shall— 

6 (1) conduct a study on— 

7 (A) the effects, if any, of the implementa8 tion of this Act, and the amendments made by 

9 this Act, on the art market in the United 

10 States; and 

11 (B) whether the provisions of this Act, and 

12 the amendments made by this Act, should be 

13 expanded to cover dealers, galleries, or other 

14 professionals engaged in the sale of works of 

15 visual art; and 

16 (2) submit to the Committee on the Judiciary 

17 of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary 

18 of the House of Representatives a report on the 

19 study described in paragraph (1), including any rec20 ommendations for legislation. 

21 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

22 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

23 take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of 

24 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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