HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1476        FILED ON: 1/15/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2933

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Chris Walsh

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to resale royalties for artists.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1476        FILED ON: 1/15/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2933

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

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An Act relative to resale royalties for artists.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Whenever a work of fine art is sold and the seller resides in the Commonwealth or the sale takes place in the Commonwealth, the seller or seller’s agent shall pay to the artist of such work of fine art or to the artist’s agent 5 percent of the amount of such sale. The right of the artist to receive an amount equal to 5 percent of the amount of such sale may be waived only by a contract in writing providing for an amount in excess of 5 percent of the amount of such sale. An artist may assign the right to collect the royalty payment provided by this section to another individual or entity. However, the assignment shall not have the effect of creating a waiver prohibited by this subdivision.

(a)When a work of fine art is sold at an auction or by a gallery, dealer, broker, museum, or other person acting as the agent for the seller the agent shall withhold 5 percent of the amount of the sale, locate the artist and pay the artist.

(b)If the seller or agent is unable to locate and pay the artist within 90 days, an amount equal to 5 percent of the amount of the sale shall be transferred to the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

(c)If a seller of the seller’s agent fails to pay the artist the amount equal to 5 percent of the sale of a work of fine art by the artist or fails to transfer such amount to the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the artist may bring an action for damages within three years after the date of sale or one year after the discovery of the sale, whichever is longer. The prevailing party in any action brought under this paragraph shall be entitled to reasonable attorney fees, in an amount as determined by the court.

(d)Moneys received by the Massachusetts Cultural Council pursuant to this section shall be deposited in an account in a Special Deposit Fund of the State Treasury.

(e)The Massachusetts Cultural Council shall attempt to locate any artist for whom money is received pursuant to this section. If the Massachusetts Cultural Council is unable to locate the artist and the artist does not file a written claim for the money received by the Massachusetts Cultural Council within seven years of the date of the sale of the work of fine art, the right of the artist terminates and such money shall be transferred to the Massachusetts Cultural Council for use in acquiring fine art for public use through the Public Art Commission and/or the Massachusetts Percent for Art Program to support the preservation of existing and creation of new public art in Boston and Gateway Cities across the Commonwealth.

(f)Any amounts of money shall be held by any seller of agent for the payment of artists pursuant to this section shall be exempt from enforcement of a money judgment by the creditors of the seller or agent.

(g)Upon the death of an artist, the rights and duties created under this section shall inure to his or her heirs, legatees or personal representative, until the 20th anniversary of the death of the artist. The provisions of this paragraph shall be applicable only with respect to an artist who dies after January 1, XXXX? (IN THE CALIFORNIA LAW – THE DATE WAS 7 YEARS AFTER THE LAW WAS ENACTED.)

SECTION 2: Section 1 shall not apply to any of the following:

(a)To the initial sale of a work of fine art where legal title to such work at the time of such initial sale is vested in the artist thereof.

(b)To the resale of a work of fine art for a gross sales price of less than one thousand dollars ($1,000.)

(c)Except as provided in paragraph (g) of Section 1, to a resale after the death of such artist.

(d)To the resale of the work of fine art for a gross sales price less than the purchase price paid by the seller.

(e)To a transfer of a work of fine art which is exchanged for one or more works of fine art or for a combination of cash, other property and one or more works of fine art where the fair market value of the property exchanged is less than one thousand dollars ($1,000.)

(f)To the resale of a work of fine art by an art dealer to a purchaser within 10 years of the initial sale of the work of fine art by the artist to an art dealer, provided all intervening resales are by art dealers

(g)To a sale of work of stained glass artistry where the work has been permanently attached to real property and is sold as part of the sale of the real property to which it is attached.

SECTION 3: for the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

(a)Artist means the person who creates a work of fine art and who, at the time of resale, is a citizen of the United States, or a resident of the Commonwealth who has resided in the Commonwealth for a minimum of two years.

(b)Fine art means an original painting, sculpture, or drawing, or an original work of art in glass.

(c)Art dealer means a person who is actively and principally engaged in or conducting the business of selling works of fine art for which business of such person validly holds a sales tax permit.

(d)This section shall become operative on January 1, 2016, and shall apply to works of fine art created before and after its operative date.

(e)If any provision of this section or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid for any reason, such invalidity shall not affect any other provisions or applications of this section which can be effected, without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this section are severable.

(f)The provisions of this act shall apply to transfers of works of fine art created before or after the effective date of this act.