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HR 5722 99th Congress House

Visual Artists Rights Amendment of 1986

Official title: A bill to amend the copyright law to secure the rights of artists of pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works to prevent the distortion, mutilation, or other al… Show full official titleShow less

Official title: A bill to amend the copyright law to secure the rights of artists of pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works to prevent the distortion, mutilation, or other alteration of such works, to provide for resale royalties, and for other purposes.

Introduced: October 16, 1986 Introduced by: Markey, Edward J. Democratic · Massachusetts See on congress.gov
Commerce ArtArts, Culture, ReligionAuthors and authorshipCopyright
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Copyright royaltiesPatents, Trademarks, and CopyrightsSculpture
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This bill died when the 99th Congress ended
It never became law before the 99th Congress (1985–1986) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Oct 16, 1986
Referred to House Committee on The Judiciary.
Oct 16, 1986
Introduced in House
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 Latest action October 16, 1986

Referred to House Committee on The Judiciary.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Visual Artists Rights Amendment of 1986 - Amends the copyright law to give the author of a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work (or the author's estate) the right to claim authorship of such work when publicly displayed, independent of his or her copyright, and to disclaim such authorship of such works because of any distortions or alterations. Excludes work made for trade or advertising use.

Grants the author of a work the exclusive right to assert infringement of copyright when such work is significantly distorted, mutilated, or altered by an intentional act or gross negligence.

Entitles the author of a work to a royalty whenever such work is resold, requiring that royalties from resales more than 50 years after the author's death be paid to the National Endowment for the Arts for use in the visual arts program. Limits the entitlement to such resale royalty according to the amounts and percentage of resale price paid.

Requires artists seeking resale royalties to register with the Copyright Office. Requires that all sales or transfers of works by registered artists be registered with the Office.

Waives artists' rights when a work cannot be removed from a building without distortion, mutilation, or alteration.

 Related & companion bills 1
  • S 2796 Identical bill Visual Artists Rights Amendment of 1986
 Committees of jurisdiction 1
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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 5722: Visual Artists Rights Amendment of 1986. 99th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/99-HR-5722/
MLA
"H.R. 5722: Visual Artists Rights Amendment of 1986." 99th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/99-HR-5722/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 5722, 99th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/99-HR-5722/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 5722: Visual Artists Rights Amendment of 1986](https://openamerica.io/bill/99-HR-5722/)
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