Resale Royalty international reciprocity is imminent
March 20, 2024
The Resale Royalty Right for Visual Artists Act 2009 (the Resale Act) allows for reciprocal resale rights to be established with countries that have an operating resale royalty scheme and which entitle Australian rights holders to benefit. Under these arrangements, Australian artists will receive royalties when their eligible works are resold in reciprocating countries, and artists from reciprocating countries will receive royalty payments for their eligible artworks resold in Australia.
When will international reciprocity begin?
Following the Minister’s official announcement, all works resold on or after 31 March 2024 will be assessed with reciprocity in mind.
What does this mean for artists?
The resales of your work overseas will follow the Resale Royalty Right as it operates in the prescribed reciprocating country, and you will be provided with the resale information and the royalty payment.
While the international schemes broadly operate the same way as in Australia, there are some variations. The key variance is in how the royalty value is calculated. For example, in Europe the percentages of royalty payable is on a sliding scale based on the sales value of the work, whereas in Australia it is set at 5%.
Copyright Agency’s team will be in touch with you when you have an international resale and, in the meantime, if you have any questions you can contact resale@copyright.com.au.
What does this mean for art market professionals?
The resales of overseas artists’ work in Australia will follow the same process we have now for the resales of Australian artists’ work.
The reporting requirements will remain the same. You’ll continue to need to provide Copyright Agency with reports for all resales with a sales value of $1,000 (including GST) or more.
The criteria for a resale to be eligible for royalty is unchanged, that is:
- the work sold for $1,000 incl GST or more;
- the work being sold was acquired by the seller after the start of the scheme on or after June 9, 2010;
- the artist is alive or deceased no more than 70 years from the end of the year of death; and
- the artist (or their beneficiary) is a citizen or permanent resident of Australia or a national or citizen of a reciprocating country.
What has changed?
Up until now there have been no reciprocating countries, and shortly there will be. The introduction of reciprocating countries will be an iterative process with countries being added over time. For example, New Zealand now has Resale Royalty Right legislation, but is yet to have an operating scheme; once they have a scheme in operation the Government will designate them a reciprocating country.
The initial cohort of countries are: United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. So as of 31 March 2024, resales in Australia of works by artists from these countries, will attract a resale royalty, if all other eligibility criteria are met.
In addition, some resales in Australia of Australian artists’ works will be assessed differently too. To date there have been resales in Australia of some Australian artists’ works that were not eligible for resale royalty as their beneficiaries did not have the requisite connection to Australia or a reciprocating country. With the introduction of reciprocity, this will change for some. Those artists are: Roy De Maistre, Stella Bowen, William Delafield Cook, Basil Hadley, Colin Colahan, Ida Rentoul Outhwaite and Ian Fairweather. From 31 March 2024, resales of these artists’ works will attract a resale royalty, if all other eligibility criteria are met.
If you have any questions, please contact resale@copyright.com.au.