I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4103 
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 
FEBRUARY 26, 2014 
Mr. NADLER 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 royal-
ties, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Royalties 
Too Act of 2014’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
Section 101 of title 17, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) by inserting after the definition of ‘‘archi-
tectural work’’ the following: 
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‘‘An ‘auction’ means a public sale at which a 
work of visual art is sold to the highest bidder and 
which is run by an entity that sold not less than 
$1,000,000 of works of visual art during the pre-
vious year.’’; 
(2) by inserting after the definition of ‘‘Pic-
torial, graphic, and sculptural works’’ the following: 
‘‘For purposes of section 106(b), ‘price’ means 
the aggregate of all installments paid in cash or in- 
kind by or on behalf of a purchaser for a work of 
visual art as the result of the auction of that work.’’; 
(3) by inserting after the definition of ‘‘reg-
istration’’ the following: 
‘‘For 
purposes 
of 
sections 
106(b) 
and 
701(b)(5), ‘sale’ means transfer of ownership or 
physical possession of a work of visual art as the re-
sult of the auction of that work.’’; and 
(4) in the definition of ‘‘work of visual art’’, by 
striking ‘‘A ‘work of visual art’ is—’’ and all that 
follows through ‘‘by the author.’’ and inserting the 
following: ‘‘A ‘work of visual art’ is a painting, 
drawing, print, sculpture, or photograph, existing ei-
ther in the original embodiment or in a limited edi-
tion of 200 copies or fewer that bear the signature 
or other identifying mark of the author and are con-
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secutively numbered by the author, or, in the case 
of a sculpture, in multiple cast, carved, or fabricated 
sculptures of 200 or fewer that are consecutively 
numbered by the author and bear the signature or 
other identifying mark of the author.’’. 
SEC. 3. EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS. 
Section 106 of title 17, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 
‘‘Subject to sections 107 through 122’’; 
(2) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(3) in paragraph (6), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(7) in the case of a work of visual art, to col-
lect a royalty for the work if the work is sold by a 
person other than the author of the work for a price 
of not less than $5,000 as the result of an auction. 
‘‘(b) COLLECTION OF ROYALTY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The collection of a royalty 
under subsection (a)(7) shall be conducted in accord-
ance with this subsection. 
‘‘(2) CALCULATION OF ROYALTY.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The royalty shall be 
an amount equal to the lesser of— 
‘‘(i) 5 percent of the price paid for the 
work of visual art; or 
‘‘(ii) $35,000. 
‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENT OF AMOUNT.—In 2015 
and each year thereafter, the dollar amount de-
scribed in subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be in-
creased by an amount equal to the product of— 
‘‘(i) that dollar amount; and 
‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment de-
termined under section 1(f)(3) of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986 for the year, 
determined by substituting ‘calender year 
2015’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in subpara-
graph (B) thereof. 
‘‘(3) COLLECTION OF ROYALTY.— 
‘‘(A) COLLECTION.—Not later than 90 
days after the date on which the auction occurs, 
the entity that conducts the auction shall— 
‘‘(i) collect the royalty; and 
‘‘(ii) pay the royalty to a visual art-
ists’ copyright collecting society. 
‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTION.—Not fewer than 4 
times each year, the visual artists’ copyright 
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collecting society shall distribute to the author 
or his or her successor as copyright owner an 
amount equal to the difference between— 
‘‘(i) the net royalty attributable to the 
sales of the author; and 
‘‘(ii) the reasonable administrative ex-
penses of the collecting society as deter-
mined by regulations issued under section 
701(b)(5). 
‘‘(4) FAILURE TO PAY ROYALTY.—Failure to 
pay a royalty provided for under this subsection 
shall— 
‘‘(A) constitute an infringement of copy-
right; and 
‘‘(B) be subject to— 
‘‘(i) the payment of statutory damages 
under section 504(c); and 
‘‘(ii) liability for payment of the full 
royalty due. 
‘‘(5) RIGHT TO COLLECT ROYALTY.—The right 
to collect a royalty under this subsection may not be 
sold, assigned, or waived except as provided in sec-
tion 201. 
‘‘(6) ELIGIBILITY TO RECEIVE ROYALTY PAY-
MENT.—The royalty shall be paid to— 
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‘‘(A) any author of a work of visual art— 
‘‘(i) who is a citizen of or domiciled in 
the United States; 
‘‘(ii) who is a citizen of or domiciled 
in a country that provides resale royalty 
rights; or 
‘‘(iii) whose work of visual art is first 
created in the United States or in a coun-
try that provides resale royalty rights; or 
‘‘(B) the successor as copyright owner of 
an author described in subparagraph (A).’’. 
SEC. 4. NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT. 
Section 401 of title 17, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) NON-APPLICABILITY
TO WORKS
OF VISUAL 
ART.—The provisions of this section shall not apply to a 
work of visual art.’’. 
SEC. 5. COPYRIGHT OFFICE. 
Section 701(b) of title 17, United States Code, is 
amended by— 
(1) redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph 
(6); and 
(2) inserting after paragraph (4) the following: 
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‘‘(5) Issue regulations governing visual artists’ 
copyright collecting societies described in section 
106, that— 
‘‘(A) establish a process by which an entity 
is determined to be and designated as a visual 
artists’ copyright collecting society, that— 
‘‘(i) requires that a visual artists’ 
copyright collecting society authorized to 
administer royalty collections and distribu-
tions under this title shall— 
‘‘(I) have prior experience in li-
censing the copyrights of authors of 
works of visual art in the United 
States; or 
‘‘(II) have been authorized by not 
fewer than 10,000 authors of works of 
visual art, either directly or through 
reciprocal agreements with foreign 
collecting societies, to license the 
rights granted under section 106; and 
‘‘(ii) prohibits an entity from being 
designated as a visual artists’ copyright 
collecting society if, during a period of not 
less than 5 years that begins after the date 
on which the entity is designated as a vis-
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ual artists’ copyright collecting society, the 
entity does not distribute directly to each 
author, or to the successor as copyright 
owner of each author, the amount of the 
royalties required to be distributed under 
section 106(b)(3)(B); 
‘‘(B) determine a reasonable amount of ad-
ministrative expenses that a visual artists’ copy-
right collecting society may deduct from the 
royalties payable to an author of a work of vis-
ual art under section 106(b)(3); and 
‘‘(C) establish a process by which— 
‘‘(i) not less frequently than annually, 
a visual artists’ copyright collecting society 
may request from any entity that conducts 
auctions a list of each work of visual art 
sold in those auctions that is by an author 
represented by the collecting society; and 
‘‘(ii) an author of a work of visual art 
may obtain from a visual artists’ copyright 
collecting society any information re-
quested by the collecting society under 
clause (i) that relates to a sale of a work 
of visual art by the author, including the 
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amount of any royalty paid to the col-
lecting society on behalf of the author.’’. 
SEC. 6. STUDY REQUIRED. 
Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Register of Copyrights shall— 
(1) conduct a study on— 
(A) the effects, if any, of the implementa-
tion of this Act, and the amendments made by 
this Act, on the art market in the United 
States; and 
(B) whether the provisions of this Act, and 
the amendments made by this Act, should be 
expanded to cover dealers, galleries, or other 
professionals engaged in the sale of works of 
visual art; and 
(2) submit to the Committee on the Judiciary 
of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary 
of the House of Representatives a report on the 
study described in paragraph (1), including any rec-
ommendations for legislation. 
SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 
take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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