Dear VAGA Member,

I am pleased to inform you that yesterday our 7% resale royalty bill, The Equity for Visual Artists Act of 2011, was introduced to Congress by Representative Jerold Nadler on New York and Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin.  From its beginnings in the mid seventies, VAGA has advocated for a federal resale royalty.  This is an exciting moment and an important opportunity.  With your help and the support of all visual artists, we are hopeful that the legislation will become law.

Much of the bill is written exactly as we presented it to the Congressmen, but as is typical for bills, the Congressmen made changes and we are not necessarily pleased with all of them. In particular, they have increased the minimum price threshold for payment from our proposed $5,000 to $10,000. As VAGA’s goal is to be able to distribute royalties to as many different rights holders as possible, we hope to get that number brought back down to $5000 as the bill makes its makes it way through Congress.  Congressional and public scrutiny will result in pressure for changes from various constituencies, and there is little question that the final bill will be different from what we have now.  Our goal, of course, is to end up with a bill that benefits many and with enough possible revenue to make a real difference.  In the coming months we will be reaching out to let you know how you can help and influence the passage of the bill.

A copy of the bill is attached for your review.

Some early press:

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/lawmakers-propose-royalties-be-paid-to-artists-on-resale/

http://www.galleristny.com/2011/12/u-s-resale-royalties-bill-introduced-by-n-y-congressman-nadler-12152011/

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Droit+de+suite+bill+introduced+in+US+Congress/25297

Best regards,

Bob

Robert Panzer

Executive Director

VAGA

350 Fifth Avenue

Suite 2820

New York, NY 10118

212 736 6666

EVAA as Introduced - 12152011.pdf 413 kb   Ver   Descargar