California Resale
Royalties Act (CA Civil Code S986)
“…provides the creator of “fine art” the right to
receive a royalty upon the resale of his or her creations.” In
part, the statute reads: (a) Whenever a work of fine art is sold and the
seller resides in California or the sale takes place in California, the seller
or the seller’s agent shall pay to the artist of such a work of fine
art or to such artist’s agent 5 percent of the amount of such sale. For
additional information: http://ivanhoffman.com/crra.htm
California Art Preservation Act (CA Civil Code S987)
In part, the statute reads (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares
that the physical alteration or destruction of an expression of the artist’s
personality, is detrimental to the artist’s reputation, and artists
therefore have an interest in protecting their works of fine art against
any alteration or destruction; that there is also a pubic interest in
preserving the integrity of cultural and artistic creations. The
term, “Fine Art” includes Public Art forms. http://www.sfartscommission.org/pubart/about_us/policies_guidelines/capa.htm
Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA-17 U.S.C.)
Vara Federal Legislation grants artists two new rights: the right to
claim authorship of a work created by the artist [attribution]; and
the right to deny authorship of a work not the artist’s own [integrity]. “The
right of integrity concerns the artist’s right to prevent or
to recover damages for the intentional distortion, mutilation, modification,
or destruction of his work. The revolutionary aspect of VARA
is that the artist retains these rights throughout his lifetime, even
when the original work to be protected is no longer in his possession.” http://www.studiolo.org/CIP/VARA/CIP-VARA.htm
Artist
Deduction Legislation (Rep. John Lewis, Chief Sponsor)
Legislation has been introduced to give artists equal treatment to collectors
when they donate their artwork to a collecting or educational institution. “Currently,
a collector may take a tax deduction for the fair-market value of the
work, but creators may deduct only their basic value- essentially the
cost of materials such as paint and canvas. The Senate has approved identical
legislation for the past several years, but the House has failed to follow
suit.” -Americans for the Arts Monthly Wire-March 2007- For
more information: Andy Finch, Sr. Director of Government Affairs, afinch@artsusa.org.