,i #aaith ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #djag ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,june #ag1 #bjbe,mr4 ,nadler 7for himself and ,ms4 ,chu7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on the ,judiciary ,a ,,bill ,to amend title #ag1 ,united ,states ,code1 to secure the rights of visual artists to copyright1 to provide for resale royalties1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,american ,royalties ,too ,act of #bjbe4 #b4 ,resale royalty 7a7 ,collection of resale royalty for visual art ,chapter #a of title #ag1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended by inserting after section #ajf;,a the following3 #ajf;,b4 ,collection of resale royalty for visual art 7a7 ,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7 ,art market professional ,the term art market professional means a person engaged in the business of buying and selling works of visual art to the public4 7#b7 ,author's successor ,the term author's successor means an individual who holds the right of the author of a work of visual art to the resale royalty after the death of the author as defined under subsection 7e77#c74 7#c7 ,commercial ,resale ,the term commercial resale means a sale of a resale copy of a work of visual art by1 or with the intervention of1 an art market professional1 subsequent to the first sale of that copy4 7#d7 ,price ,the term price means the aggregate of all payments in cash1 credit1 or in-kind by or on behalf of a purchaser1 excluding any fees for services rendered by the art market professional in connection with such sale4 7#e7 ,resale ,copy ,the term resale copy1 for the purposes of this section1 means the material object in which the work of visual art is fixed by or under the authority of the author1 in a single or limited edition4 7#f7 ,visual ,artists' ,collecting ,societies ,the term visual artists' collecting societies means entities that have been designated to administer the resale royalty under this section4 7b7 ,collection generally ,independent of the exclusive rights provided in section #ajf1 the author of a work of visual art shall be entitled to a royalty for the commercial resale of a resale copy of the work by a person other than the author or the author's successor for a price of #e1jjj or more4 7c7 ,duration ,the entitlement to a resale royalty shall subsist simultaneously with and for the duration of the term of copyright protection afforded to the work of visual art pursuant to chapter #c of this title4 7d7 ,calculation and payment of royalty 7#a7 ,in general ,the royalty for the sale of a resale copy of a work of visual art under this section shall be an amount equal to the lesser of-- 7,a7 #e percent of the price paid for the resale copy of the work of visual art in that sale2 or 7,b7 #ej1jjj4 7#b7 ,adjustment of amount ,in #bjbb and each year thereafter1 the dollar amount described in paragraph 7#a77;,b7 shall be increased by an amount equal to the product of-- 7,a7 that dollar amount2 and 7,b7 the cost-of-living adjustment determined under section #a7;f77#c77;,a7 of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf for the year1 determined by substituting the ,c-,,cpi-,u for calendar year #bjbd for the ,,cpi for calendar year #bjbd and all that follows in clause 7ii7 of that section4 7e7 ,collection and payment of royalty 7#a7 ,collection ,not later than #ij days after the date of the final payment for the purchase of the resale copy of the work of visual art1 the art market professional shall pay the resale royalty calculated under subsection 7d7 to such visual artists' collecting societies as are designated by the ,register of ,copyrights under subsection 7i74 7#b7 ,distribution ,not fewer than four times each year at quarterly intervals1 any visual artists' collecting society to which payments are made under paragraph 7#a7 shall distribute to the author or the author's successor as copyright owner in an amount equal to the difference between-- 7,a7 all royalties attributable to the sales of resale copies of works of visual art by the author2 and 7,b7 the reasonable administrative expenses of the collecting society as determined by regulations issued under subsection 7i74 7#c7 ,successors ,in a case in which an author is dead1 the right of that author to the resale royalty shall transfer as bequeathed by will4 ,in the absence of a will1 the right shall be apportioned as follows3 7,a7 ,the widow or widower is entitled to the entire royalty of the author unless there are any surviving children or grandchildren of the author1 in which case the widow or widower is entitled to one-half of the author's royalty4 7,b7 ,any surviving child of the author1 and any surviving child of any dead child of the author1 is entitled to the royalty of the author in accordance with this section as follows3 7i7 ,a single surviving child of the author or single surviving grandchild that is the child of a deceased child of the author is entitled to the entire royalty of the author if there is no surviving spouse4 7ii7 ,if there is no surviving spouse and more than one child of the author1 alive or dead1 each child is entitled to an equal share of the royalty1 and the share of any deceased child shall be split equally among all surviving grandchildren that descend from the deceased child4 7iii7 ,if there is a surviving spouse1 each child of the author is entitled to an equal share of one-half of the royalty1 and the share of any deceased child shall be split equally among all surviving grandchildren that descend from the deceased child4 7,c7 ,in the event that the author's widow or widower1 children1 and grandchildren are not living1 the entitlement to collect a resale royalty is extinguished4 7,d7 ,where a work of visual art is a joint work1 each joint author is entitled to an equal share of any resale royalty4 ,where an author who is a joint author is dead1 his or her share of any resale royalty shall be apportioned among his or her successors in accordance with this paragraph 7#c74 7#d7 ,unclaimed royalties 7,a7 ,escrow ,subject to subparagraph 7,b71 if1 after a good faith effort1 a visual artists' collecting society is not able to make a timely distribution under paragraph 7#b7 because the collecting society is unable to locate the author or the author's successor1 the collecting society shall-- 7i7 deposit the amount that would have been distributed to the author or authors' successor into an interest-bearing escrow account until the author or the author's successor has been identified and located1 and continue to make reasonable good faith efforts to identify and locate the author or author's successor1 including by administering and publicizing1 including on the visual artists' collecting society's website1 a process by which authors or the author's successor can claim any royalty due under this subsection2 and 7ii7 upon locating the author or author's successor1 distribute the amount described in clause 7i71 including interest1 to the author or author's successor4 7,b7 ,transfer ,if the author or the author's successor is not located during the #c-year period beginning on the date on which the sale of the resale copy of the work of visual art covered under this section occurs1 the amount that would have been distributed to the author or the author's successor under paragraph 7#b7 shall be transferred to the ,copyright ,office for the purposes of developing and conducting programs and educational initiatives in support of artists in the ,united ,states4 ,distribution of funds under this subparagraph satisfies the obligations of the visual artists' collecting society under this subsection with respect to those funds4 7#e7 ,administration ,visual artists' collecting societies shall administer all amounts collected under this subsection in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles4 7f7 ,failure ,to pay or distribute royalty 7#a7 ,right of action 7,a7 ,if an art market professional fails to pay a royalty in accordance with subsection 7e7 to a visual artists' collecting society designated by the ,register of ,copyrights1 such a society1 either by itself or jointly with any other such society1 may bring an action in a district court of the ,united ,states to recover an amount equal to the amount of the royalty and attorney's fees but if no such society exercises this right within one year from the date payment is due1 the author or author's successors may within three years from the date payment is due bring an action in a district court of the ,united ,states to recover an amount equal to three times the amount of the royalty and attorney's fees4 7,b7 ,if a visual artists' collecting society to which a royalty payment is made under section 7e77#a7 fails to distribute the royalty in accordance with subsection 7e77#b7 or 7#c71 the author or author's successors may within three years from the date the society received the royalty payment bring an action in a district court of the ,united ,states to recover an amount equal to three times the amount of the royalty and attorney's fees4 7#b7 ,collecting ,societies ,with the permission of the person to whom the resale royalty is due under paragraph 7#a71 visual artists' collecting societies may bring a suit on that person's behalf under this subsection4 7#c7 ,exclusive remedies ,the remedies provided under this subsection shall be the exclusive remedies for a failure to pay or distribute a royalty in accordance with subsection 7e74 7g7 ,no transfers ,the entitlement to a royalty under this section may not be sold1 assigned1 or otherwise transferred or waived4 7h7 ,eligibility ,to receive royalty payment ,any visual artists' collecting society that collects a royalty under this section for the sale of a resale copy of a work of visual art shall distribute the royalty to-- 7#a7 any author of the work of visual art-- 7,a7 who is a citizen of or domiciled in the ,united ,states2 7,b7 who is a citizen of or domiciled in a country that provides a royalty for the resale of a resale copy of a work of visual art2 or 7,c7 whose work of visual art is first created in the ,united ,states or in a country that provides a royalty for the resale of a copy of a work of visual art2 or 7#b7 the successor of an author described in paragraph 7#a74 7i7 ,regulations ,the ,register of ,copyrights may conduct such proceedings and adopt such regulations as necessary or appropriate to effectuate the provisions of this section1 including to-- 7#a7 establish a process by which entities are designated as a visual artists' collecting societies authorized to administer royalty collections and distributions under this section1 which process shall require such entities to-- 7,a7 have experience in licensing the copyrights of authors of works of visual art in the ,united ,states2 or 7,b7 have experience in collecting1 maintaining1 and distributing monies on behalf of artists in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles2 7#b7 determine the reasonable administrative expenses that the visual artists' collecting societies may deduct from the royalties payable under subsection 7e77#b77;,b72 7#c7 establish a process by which-- 7,a7 visual artists' collecting societies may obtain from any art market professional the sale price1 date of sale1 and other such information as the ,register of ,copyrights deems appropriate1 for each sale of a resale copy of a work of visual art covered by this section2 and 7,b7 an author of a work of visual art or1 if the author is dead1 the author's successor may obtain from visual artists' collecting societies any information in the possession of the collecting societies1 including the information obtained under clause 7,a7 and the amount of any royalty paid to the collecting societies1 that relates to a sale of any resale copies of such author's work2 and 7#d7 establish a process by which the visual artists' collecting societies may lose their designation as such if1 in the judgment of the ,register1 the entity fails to substantially carry out the duties of a visual artist's collecting society or fails to comply with the appropriate standards of conduct under this section or any applicable regulations adopted by the ,register4 7j7 ,closest alternative designation ,if the ,register is unable to identify an entity that fulfills each of the qualifications set forth in clauses 7,a7 through 7,b7 in section 7i77#a71 or if an entity is identified and the ,register finds cause not to designate such entity1 the ,register may designate any entity that most nearly fulfills such qualifications for purposes of carrying out the responsibilities of the visual artists' collecting societies and for which the ,register does not find cause not to designate4 ,if the ,register judges that no entity nearly fulfills the qualifications for the purposes of carrying out the responsibilities of the visual artists' collecting societies1 then the ,register may promulgate regulations for an alternative method for collecting and distributing resale royalties4 4 7b7 ,technical and conforming amendment ,the table of sections for chapter #a of title #ag1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section #ajf;,a the following3 #ajf;,b4 ,collection of resale royalty for visual art4 4 #c4 ,notice of copyright ,section #dja of title #ag1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended by adding at the end the following3 7e7 ,non-,applicability to works of visual art ,the provisions of this section shall not apply to a work of visual art4 4 #d4 ,study required ,not later than #e years after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,register of ,copyrights shall conduct a study on the implementation of this ,act and 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 results1 including any recommendations for legislation4 #e4 ,effective date ,this ,act and the amendments made by this ,act shall take effect on the date that is one year after the date of enactment of this ,act4