The resale royalty scheme entitles artists and their beneficiaries to a 5% royalty on certain resales of their works.
The Australian government has appointed Copyright Agency to manage the scheme. Copyright Agency is a non-profit organisation that has been managing rights for artists, publishers and other creators for 50 years.
"Art market professionals" - who include auctioneers, art dealers, art galleries, museums and others involved in the business of dealing in artworks - have legal obligations under the scheme.
Vendors – directly or through their agents – must provide Copyright Agency with sufficient information about all commercial resales after 8 June 2010 for Copyright Agency to work out:
- provide certain information to Copyright Agency; and
- ensure, together with the buyer and seller that royalties are paid to Copyright Agency to on-pay to artists and their beneficiaries.
This information can be provided to Copyright Agency by the gallery, auction house or dealer.
A royalty is payable on a reported resale if:
- the work was created after 9 June 2010 or, if the work existed on 9 June 2010, it is not the first resale of that work;
- the sale price (including GST) was $1,000 or more;
- the artist is from Australia or a country listed in the Regulations to the Act. As of 31 March 2024, the 17 countries that have reciprocal agreements with Australia are: United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
Please note the information on this page is updated regularly, so please check back as an artist can move in and out of eligibility.
Relevance of artist’s nationality
Information about an artist’s nationality or country of origin may not, of itself, indicate whether or not a royalty is payable. An artist may be a national of a country other than Australia, but entitled to royalties because they have permanent residency status in Australia. On the other hand, an Australian artist who lives overseas is entitled to royalties, provided they have not renounced their Australian citizenship. They can be entitled to royalties even though they hold a foreign passport and/or are a foreign resident for taxation purposes. As of 31 March 2024, right holders who are nationals or citizens of 17 other countries are entitled to resale royalties under the Australian scheme.
Artists we do not currently collect royalties for:
We currently do not collect for the following artists or their beneficiaries as they do not have the requisite connection to Australia or a reciprocating country:
- Sam Fullbrook
- Clement Meadmore
- Percy Leason
- Gwyn Hanssen Pigott
You are required to report resales for these artists.
Please note as a beneficiary’s connection to Australia or a reciprocating country changes, artists can move in and out of eligibility for resale royalty.
If you have a question about the Resale Royalty Scheme, Copyright Agency or anything else, please fill in our enquiry form