US Congress House Bill 4103 (Prior Session Legislation)

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Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-0)
Status: Introduced on February 26 2014 - 25% progression, died in committee
Action: 2014-03-20 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet.
Pending: House Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, And The Internet Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

American Royalties Too Act of 2014 - Expands copyright owners' exclusive rights, in the case of a work of visual art, to include the right to collect or authorize the collection of a royalty if the work is sold by a person other than the author for at least $5,000 in an auction. Defines "auction" as a public sale of visual art to the highest bidder run by an entity that sold at least $1 million of works of visual art during the previous year. Revises the term "work of visual art" to make requirements for photographs consistent with requirements for paintings, drawings, and prints. (Currently, a photograph must be a still photographic image produced for exhibition purposes only.) Limits the amount of such a royalty to the lesser of: (1) 5% of the purchase price; or (2) $35,000, subject to cost-of-living adjustments. Directs entities conducting such auctions to collect and pay the royalties to a visual artists' copyright collecting society. Requires the collecting society, at least four times each year, to distribute the appropriate royalties (minus administrative expenses) to authors or successor copyright owners. Requires an author of a work of visual art, in order to be eligible to receive such a royalty, to: (1) be a citizen of, or domiciled in, the United States or a country that provides resale royalty rights; or (2) have first created the work in the United States or a country that provides such royalty rights. Establishes a copyright infringement offense for the failure to pay such a royalty. Subjects infringers to: (1) statutory damages, and (2) liability for the full royalty. Prohibits the sale, assignment, or waiver of the right to collect such a royalty, subject to exceptions for works made for hire and transfers of copyright ownership. Directs the Register of Copyrights to issue regulations governing visual artists' copyright collecting societies.

American Royalties Too Act of 2014

Rep. Jerrold Nadler [D-NY]	Rep. Donna Christensen [D-VI]	Rep. Judy Chu [D-CA]	Rep. Lacy Clay [D-MO]
Rep. Theodore Deutch [D-FL]	Rep. Eliot Engel [D-NY]	Rep. Sam Farr [D-CA]	Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee [D-TX]
Rep. John Lewis [D-GA]	Rep. Grace Meng [D-NY]	Rep. James Moran [D-VA]	Rep. Ed Pastor [D-AZ]
Rep. Mark Pocan [D-WI]	Rep. Janice Schakowsky [D-IL]	Rep. Louise Slaughter [D-NY]	Rep. Maxine Waters [D-CA]

Date	Chamber	Action
2014-03-20	House	Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet.
2014-02-26	House	Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

SB2045 (Same As) 2014-02-26 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Type	Source
Summary	https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/4103/all-info
Text	https://www.congress.gov/113/bills/hr4103/BILLS-113hr4103ih.pdf