CAL appointment to manage Resale Royalty

The Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts, the Hon Peter Garrett AM MP, announced in April that Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) will manage the artists’ resale royalty scheme that comes into operation on 9 June.

The scheme will provide artists with a 5% royalty on commercial resales of $1,000 or more that occur after 8 June this year. The royalty will apply to existing as well as new works, but will not apply to the first change of ownership after commencement, even if that is a resale. In contrast to the schemes in some other countries, the royalty in the Australian scheme will be 5% irrespective of the sales price.

The scheme implements a 2007 government election promise, and will enable the collection of royalties for Australian works in other countries such as the UK, France and Germany.

CAL’s appointment follows an open tender process. CAL is a non-profit organisation that has been collecting and distributing copyright fees for authors, artists and publishers for more than 20 years. CAL’s 15,000 members include artists who will be entitled to resale royalties. Half the value of the Top 50 art auction sales in 2009 was for CAL’s members’ works, 44% of whom are Indigenous artists.

“CAL looks forward to working with artists, auction houses, commercial galleries, Indigenous art centres and others to ensure smooth introduction and efficient administration of the scheme”, says CAL’s CEO Jim Alexander.

The artists’ education program associated with the introduction of the scheme will encompass related issues that affect artists’ livelihoods, and provide opportunities for CAL to work with other organisations offering services to artists.

CAL’s administrative fees will be 10% of the royalties collected.

Sellers, buyers, auction houses, commercial galleries and art dealers will be legally obliged to provide information to CAL about all commercial resales from 9 June, including those that do not generate a royalty. CAL envisages that the data collected under the scheme will be useful for other purposes, such as provenance.

As part of the implementation process, CAL will set up two advisory panels – one representing artists and the other representing the art trade – to ensure that CAL’s administrative processes work with existing industry practices.

Mr Alexander said that the commencement of the scheme represents the culmination of more than 20 years lobbing by artists. “CAL is very pleased to have the opportunity to bring its expertise in copyright management to this important new scheme for artists. The scheme will redress the obvious inequity when an artwork purchased for a few hundred dollars is resold for a much higher price.”

To view CAL's information sheet about what resale royalty means for the art trade, click here.

To view CAL's information sheet about what resale royalty means for artists, click here.