Sepuloni CarmelRESALE RIGHT FOR VISUAL ARTISTS BILLFirst ReadingHon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage): I present a legislative statement on the Resale Right for Visual Artists Bill.SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: I move That the Resale Right for Visual Artists Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Social Services and Community Committee to consider the bill. At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be reported to the House by 31 July 2023.It is my pleasure as the Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage to introduce this bill today. Our visual artists are an integral part of New Zealand's rich and diverse artistic community. Their skill passion and creativity represent a key contribution to our society and to our culture. However they also have some of the lowest median incomes in New Zealand and have limited opportunities to benefit from their work on an ongoing basis. People who buy and sell visual artwork on the secondary market make money on artworks when an artist's reputation grows but currently none of this profit—which is a result of the hard work and success achieved by the artist—goes to the artists themselves.Under the Resale Right for Visual Artists Bill this will change. The bill will establish an artist resale royalty scheme in New Zealand providing eligible visual artists with a resale right to benefit from their work. In contrast to copyright the resale right is unable to be waived or transferred away from the artist while they are living and so the right remains with the artist for their whole life. The resale right means a 5 percent royalty payment will be collected each time an artist's eligible work is resold. Beyond the monetary acknowledgment of the royalty payment this bill also provides confirmation to artists that their important cultural and societal contribution to New Zealand is both recognised and valued.Over 80 countries around the world—including Australia the United Kingdom and all European Union countries—already have an artist resale royalty scheme most of which have been in place for many years. It is time that our talented artists receive these same rewards here in New Zealand. An artist resale royalty scheme has been a long time coming. Back in 2008 the Copyright (Artists' Resale Right) Amendment Bill was introduced to the House but unfortunately was never enacted. This Government demonstrated its commitment to an artist resale royalty scheme by bringing it back on to the political agenda in 2019 before including it as part of the free-trade agreements with the United Kingdom and the European Union.The Resale Right for Visual Artists Bill now represents a huge milestone in a journey that began really 15 years ago. Vital to designing the bill has been engagement with key stakeholders across the arts and cultural sector and the secondary art market. We have sought the views of a wide range of people including visual artists and estates art market professionals advocacy groups academics and art and legal experts.The key message I have heard from this sector is that there is strong support for an artists' resale royalty scheme with the general sentiment being that this bill is both welcome and long overdue. However I have also heard that the scheme needs to be carefully designed to ensure that not only do artists benefit but our valuable secondary art market is supported to grow and thrive. In designing the bill we have drawn on the insights and experiences of overseas countries who have similar schemes in place. However New Zealand is a unique country with a diverse artistic community including our rich and vibrant Māori and Pacific arts communities. In its definition of visual art" this bill acknowledges that unique context by making specific reference to the visual artworks of Māori and Pacific peoples.For a sale to be eligible for a royalty it must involve an art market professional or it must be a resale to or from a publicly funded museum or art gallery. The bill requires this because we know that tracking and collecting a royalty on every single sale—especially private sales—is simply not feasible. However the bill does provide the option for those involved in private resales to pay a royalty voluntarily if they want to. I have heard through engagement that artworks by some groups—including Māori Pacific and female artists—are more likely to be sold privately. By enabling private sales to opt in voluntarily we have sought to ensure as many artists as possible can benefit from this scheme.We also know that there are administrative impacts when paying a royalty on all sales even very low-value ones. This means that for a resale to qualify for a royalty the sale price must meet a certain threshold and value. This threshold will be set between $500 and $5000 with the exact figure to be set in the supporting regulations to the bill. I have chosen to set this figure through regulations so it is futureproofed and there is the flexibility to adjust it in the future if necessary.As well as receiving royalties when their artwork is sold in New Zealand visual artists will also be able to receive royalties when their eligible artworks are sold in countries which have reciprocating artist resale royalty schemes. For example New Zealand artists will be able to receive a royalty when their eligible artworks are sold in the United Kingdom and the scheme will also benefit others as well as the artists themselves. Under this bill artists successors or beneficiaries can receive royalty payments for up to 50 years after the artist's death. This provides an intergenerational benefit and will mean an artist's successors—including their family whānau or iwi—will be able to share in the artist's creative success. As is common overseas the artist resale royalty scheme will be managed by a non-Government collection agency which can deduct an administrative fee from each royalty collected. The administrative fee is a fee in return for the service provided by collecting the royalty and will cover the agency's administration costs. In this way the scheme will ultimately sustain itself and have no ongoing costs to the Government.We have seen the benefits of artist resale royalty schemes overseas for example from the commencement of Australia's scheme in June 2010 through to April 2022 A$11 million has been generated in royalties for visual artists. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island artists have benefited greatly representing 65 percent of the artists receiving royalties and receiving 38 percent of the total value of royalties.In the United Kingdom the secondary art market has strengthened considerably since the introduction of a resale right in 2006. This was despite concerns raised in Australia and the United Kingdom about the potential negative impacts of an artist resale royalty scheme on the art market. I have heard some similar concerns raised here which is why this bill has been designed to minimise the impacts on the secondary market as much as possible. While the New Zealand art market will have some increased compliance and administration costs relating to the scheme overseas evidence shows there are no overall negative impacts.While this bill provides the key framework for an artist resale royalty scheme supporting regulations are needed to bring the bill into operation. Regulations will set out further detail on how the scheme will operate including how royalties will be collected and distributed. I intend to release a regulations discussion document for public consultation in April this year at the same time as the bill is being considered by the select committee. This discussion document will give the public an opportunity to provide feedback on the draft proposals for regulations and see how the regulations will work alongside the bill.An artist resale royalty scheme in New Zealand really is long overdue and I believe will be warmly welcomed by communities around the country. The Resale Right for Visual Artists Bill strikes an important balance between recognising the contribution that artists make to our society and allowing a valuable secondary art market to flourish. Alongside the Government's broader investment in the sector this bill will also contribute towards a more resilient and sustainable New Zealand arts and culture sector.I urge all parties to support the first reading of this bill and its referral to the Social Services and Community Committee for the hearing of submissions and further consideration. I commend the Resale Right for Visual Artists Bill to the House.SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to."