Given the anxieties it raised among dealers and gallerists as to whether it was the right way to help artists, and hardly justify the mountain of office work involved, it now appears in its administration to be arousing little rancour as it is accepted as a fait accompli and all parties involved settle down to a more co-operative stance and existence.
Payments were beginning to flow helped by the surprisingly high number of bank accounts being held in the Central Desert.
Cheques are not so much heading out "in the mail" with Australia Post but going down the line electronically
After a year of operation Australia's resale royalty scheme for visual artists has produced $395,000 in royalties for nearly 2000 resales.
The scheme, which came into effect July 1 2011, provides for a royalty payment of 5 per cent on second sales of works of art by Australian artists and their estates for up to 70 years after their death.
More than 300 artists have received royalty payments and despite fears that well established artists or their widows would take the lion's share of the revenue the biggest single payment has been $40,000.
This translates into an average payment of $132 per artist. Contrary to suggestions that payments would be hard to place, the Copyright Collecting Agency which administers the scheme was surprised by the number of artists, including indigenous artists, with bank accounts. As a result payments could be made direct into these accounts instead of cheques being drawn and posted to artists often in distant communities.
The CAL Resale Royalty Manager, Judy Grady, told the AASD that, as envisaged, the Indigenous art market has involved more changes of ownership than other areas and there has been a high proportion of royalties payable on Indigenous works.
About 60 per cent of royalties have been for indigenous artists. In some cases, the artists live in remote areas and can be difficult to reach.
"CAL's outreach has involved engaging with and successfully reaching artists through a variety of means, including through Indigenous art centres and agents, Ms Grady added.
"CAL has been engaging with Indigenous art centres and attending important gatherings of artists such as the Darwin Art Fair, the Garma Festival, and the annual general meetings of some of the art centres’ umbrella organisations.
The creation of a large database has proved vital in the implementation of the scheme.
"We have over 4000 artists registered directly with us or through art centres, plus contact lists for another 6800 artists, making it in just one year one of the largest visual artist databases in the country," she said.
"Our Visual Artists Manager Tristan Chant is forging many useful contacts with galleries, agents, art centres and even health centres in remote areas to assist him in locating artists."
With the help of its own art market professional advisory panel CAL had identified where the volume resales would be generated in the art market and ensured it had engaged with those volume resellers.
The panel had also assisted in tailoring systems and communication messages so they are as effective as possible.
Fifty of the top parties involved in the resale market had been identified and approached and the response had been positive.
"We also acknowledge there are some who may still require assistance in understanding their obligations under the scheme and how to report,"
Early in the scheme’s life CAL received feedback from art market professionals on the reporting requirements for the artworks of less than $1000.
"In response, we devised a new streamlined system for reporting of low-value resales. I have had positive feedback," she added.
The advisory panel comprises art market professionals Philip Bacon, John Keats, Lowenstein Art, Beverley Knight and John Oster.
The art market, where title deeds are rare, has long been a labyrinth which CAL may not yet have fully penetrated.
The wisdom of these professionals will certainly be called to account when judgments have to be made on sales made for publicity, or to related entities for book keeping purposes.
Like the top 50 list, these issues will be assuredly handled with discretion.
