I 101ST CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2690 To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide certain rights of attribution and integrity to authors of works of visual art. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 20, 1989 Mr. KASTENMEIER (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. BERMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide certain rights of attribution and integrity to authors of works of visual art. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 4 This Act may be cited as the "Visual Artists Rights Act 5 of 1989". 6 SEC. 2. WORK OF VISUAL ART DEFINED. 7 Section 101 of title 17, United States Code, is amended 8 by inserting after the paragraph defining "widow" the 9 following: 2 "A 'work of visual art' is a painting, drawing, print, sculpture, or still photographic image produced for exhibition purposes only, existing in a single copy, in a limited edition of 200 copies or fewer, or, in the case of a sculpture, in multiple cast sculptures of 200 or fewer. A work of visual art does not include "(1) any version that has been reproduced in other than such limited edition prints or cast sculptures; "(2)(A) any poster, map, globe, chart, technical drawing, diagram, model, applied art, motion picture or other audio visual work, book, magazine, periodical, or similar publication; "(B) any merchandising item or advertising, promotional, descriptive, covering, or packaging material or container; "(C) any portion or part of any item described in subparagraph (A) or (B); "(3) any work made for hire; "(4) any reproduction, depiction, portrayal, or other use of a work in, upon, or in any connec tion with any item described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3); or "(5) any work not subject to copyright protection under section 102 of this title.". HR 2690 IH 3 1 SEC. 3. RIGHTS OF ATTRIBUTION AND INTEGRITY. 2 (a) RIGHTS OF ATTRIBUTION AND INTEGRITY. 3 Chapter 1 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by 4 inserting after section 106 the following new section: 5 "§ 106A. Rights of certain authors to attribution and in 6 7 tegrity "(a) RIGHTS OF ATTRIBUTION AND INTEGRITY.-Sub 8 ject to section 107 and independent of the exclusive rights 9 provided in section 106, the author of a work of visual art— "(1) shall have the right— 10 "(A) to claim authorship of that work, and "(B) to prevent the use of his or her name as the author of any work of visual art which he or she did not create; "(2) shall have the right to prevent the use of his or her name as the author of the work of visual art in the event of a distortion, mutilation, or other modifica tion of the work as described in paragraph (3); and "(3) subject to the limitations set forth in section 113(d), shall have the right to prevent any destruction, distortion, mutilation, or other modification of that work which would be prejudicial to his or her honor or reputation, and any such destruction, distortion, mutilation, or modification of that work is a violation of that right. HR 2690 IH 4 1 For purposes of this subsection, the destruction, distortion, 2 mutilation, or other modification of a work of recognized stat3 ure shall constitute prejudice to the honor and reputation of 4 the author of that work. In determining whether a work is of 5 recognized stature, a court or other trier of fact may take into 6 account the opinions of artists, art dealers, collectors of fine 7 art, curators of art museums, conservators, and other persons 8 involved with the creation, appreciation, history, or market9 ing of works of visual art. Evidence of commercial exploita10 tion of a work as a whole, or of particular copies, does not 11 preclude a finding that the work is a work of recognized 12 stature. 13 "(b) SCOPE AND EXERCISE OF RIGHTS.-The author 14 of a work of visual art has the rights conferred by subsection 15 (a), whether or not the author is the copyright owner, and 16 whether or not the work qualifies for protection under section 17 104. Where the author is not the copyright owner, only the 18 author shall have the right during his or her lifetime to exer19 cise the rights set forth in subsection (a). 20 "(c) EXCEPTIONS.-(1) The modification of a work of 21 visual art which is a result of the passage of time or the 22 inherent nature of the materials is not a destruction, distor23 tion, mutilation, or other modification described in subsection 24 (a)(3) unless the modification was the result of gross negli25 gence in maintaining or protecting the work. HR 2690 IH 5 1 "(2) The modification of a work of visual art which is 2 the result of conservation is not a destruction, distortion, mu 3 tilation, or other modification described in subsection (a)(3) 4 unless the modification is caused by gross negligence. 5 "(d) DURATION OF RIGHTS.-(1) With respect to 6 works of visual art created on or after the effective date set 7 forth in section 10(a) of the Visual Artists Rights Act of 8 1989, the rights conferred by subsection (a) shall endure for a 9 term consisting of the life of the author and fifty years after 10 the author's death. 11 "(2) With respect to works of visual art created before 12 the effective date set forth in section 10(a) of the Visual Art13 ists Rights Act of 1989, but not published before such effec14 tive date, the rights conferred by subsection (a) shall be coex15 tensive with, and shall expire at the same time as, the rights 16 conferred by section 106. 17 "(3) All terms of the rights conferred by subsection (a) 18 run to the end of the calendar year in which they would 19 otherwise expire. 20 "(e) TRANSFER and Waiver.-(1) Except as provided 21 in paragraph (2), the rights conferred by subsection (a) may 22 not be transferred, but those rights may be waived if the 23 author expressly agrees to such waiver in a written instru24 ment signed by the author. Such instrument shall specifically 25 identify the work, and uses of that work, to which the waiver |