How will the scheme work for galleries who often buy at auction to re-sell? Will the royalty be payable twice?
A royalty is payable on each resale.
Who is liable in each instance is answered by section 17 of the Act. The seller is always liable, and generally their agent will be jointly and severally liable. Generally a buyer won’t be liable unless no agent is involved.
To give two contrasting examples:
Where a gallery buys from an auction house or art consultant (who is acting behalf of a seller), the liable parties will be the seller and the seller’s agent (i.e. auction house or art consultant). It’s unlikely the purchasing gallery would be liable in this scenario (unless the seller actually has no agent, and the buyer has no agent).
Where a gallery buys directly from another gallery (without using any agents), then the buying gallery will indeed be jointly liable with the selling gallery to pay the on the purchase. (How the two galleries share this liability will be a private matter). The buying gallery will then be liable as a seller if/when they come to resell.
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Is a Resale Royalty applicable to artworks sold at a charity auction?
Yes, a qualifying resale of an original artwork sold as part of a charity auction is still subject to the artist’s resale royalty right. While the auction house or vendor may choose to waive their own fees or commission as a business decision, this ...
How does the scheme affect Art Market Professionals?
There are legal obligations for Art Market Professions which require them to: report qualifying resales of original visual artworks to RRA; and pay to RRA* the resale royalty payable in respect of each qualifying resale. The seller is also jointly & ...
What is the process for claiming an unpaid resale royalty?
RRA will periodically inspect and audit published auction sale results to monitor compliance with the Act and Regulations. However, because we rely on art market professionals and other stakeholders in the Scheme to notify us of resale payments that ...
When is a resale royalty payable?
An "eligible artist" (or their successor) has a right to be paid a resale royalty each time there is a “qualifying resale” of an “original visual artwork” by that artist (provided the resale right had not “expired” at the time of resale) Use the ...
How much is the resale royalty payment?
The amount is the same for both eligible artists and successors, a 5% royalty will be collected for eligible artists each time there is a qualifying resale of their original visual artwork. The collection and distribution of the payment is managed by ...