On the recordDecember 15, 2011
I rise today to introduce the Equity for Visual Artists Act of 2011. This bill would enable visual artists to benefit from their copyrights in a meaningful way similar to other creators of literary and artistic works such as authors, playwrights and composers. It provides for the payment of a copyright royalty long recognized in international law to be paid at the time a work of visual art is sold at auction in the United States. Half of this royalty payment will go directly to the artists or their estate and the other half will be made available to nonprofit American art museums as an endowment to be used by them to purchase the works of living American artists so that these works may be freely enjoyed by everyone. Like all authors, the primary legal right of an artist in his or her work is the copyright. Yet, visual artists stand alone within America's creative community in their inability to gain any significant income under existing copyright law. As an example, creators of music will collect nearly $2 billion in copyright royalty payments this year. By contrast, America's visual artists receive only a tiny amount of copyright income, primarily when their works are reproduced in publications such as museum catalogues. Visual art often generates money only when the original work itself is first sold.…
