ARRA (Artist Right and Royalties Association), is a nonprofit organization devoted to the protection and promotion of visual artists’ rights and royalties. We provide artists with the resources to register their physical artwork and collect royalties on the secondary sales.
ARRA only registers physical art, such as paintings, sculptures, or commercially created art pieces. We do not represent NFT artwork or digital artists. ARRA is available to verified professional artists and galleries. In the future, ARRA registration will be open to verified collectors as well.
ARRA only registers physical art, such as paintings, sculptures, or commercially created art pieces. We do not represent NFT artwork or digital artists.
Artists never pay to register their own work. Payment is only made when the second collector wishes to transfer the ARRA registration to their name. So, the artist’s initial art registration is free, and it is also free to transfer that registration to the first buyer. However, if a second buyer intends to purchase that artwork from the first buyer, they must pay the royalty to the artist if they wish to have the registration transferred to their name.
Registration is free for all artists and all initial art registration. ARRA only collects a royalty from collectors in the secondary market that wish to have the ownership of the piece transferred to their name (or business or trust). ARRA is a nonprofit and aims to build a community and make art registration the standard as it is in vehicle registration or home titles. Registration is free to ensure access for all professional artists and eliminate any barriers to registering art.
Sales of artwork between $0 – $250k is charged at 3% commission and decreases to 1% for artwork over 1 million. 80% goes to the registered artist while 20% goes to ARRA as a commission. ARRA is a nonprofit and the ARRA fee ensures we can continue to operate and provide royalty services for registered members.
Only the original artist and approved galleries can receive royalties. Collectors do not receive royalties for the sale of art on the secondary market.
No, ARRA does not verify that registered artworks are indeed authentic. ARRA only confirms that one specific registered artwork is owned by one specific individual. Collectors are encouraged to do their own due diligence to verify authenticity, as they would if the piece were not ARRA registered. Art counterfeiting is a large and complex business, and having a digital certificate of ownership with security features will help deter fakes and forgeries of registered pieces. An art piece can only be registered once and as the ARRA community grows and the Certificate of Ownership becomes industry standard, selling an unregistered piece of art will be as difficult as selling an unregistered car.
ARRA is a nonprofit organization and receives a 20% commission of the artist’s 3% royalty. This ensures we can continue to operate and provide royalty services for registered members.
Currently, artwork is one of the only asset classes without some form of registration or ownership documentation. Most collectors value pride of ownership and will want their artwork formally registered in their name or business. Collectors are usually fans of the artists they support and will not be opposed to a small royalty going to the artist. The clear provenance of registered art has tremendous value in the community as insurance companies, brokers, dealers, and galleries can be better protected from fraudulent practices.
No. Transferring registration is not a requirement to purchase a piece of art. Participation in ARRA is completely voluntary, but it is the best way for a collector to track provenance, have pride of ownership, and give back to the original artist. Very few legitimate collectors will be comfortable with having the new artwork they just bought remain registered to the old owner.
ARRA does not track artwork sales. ARRA only handles the registration of the artwork. Collectors may purchase artwork from any location in any fashion they choose. If that collector wants the piece registered in their name after purchase that can do so on the ARRA website.
Transferring the registration into the new owner's name is completely voluntary. However as the ARRA community grows and public pressure increases, there will be several downsides to purchasing and owning unregistered art. We are working with several insurance companies to include ‘registration discounts’ and eventually may see insurance companies not willing to insure unregistered art. Much like you would be concerned if you went to buy a car and the seller didn’t have it registered, many collectors may not be comfortable with buying unregistered art.
Verification helps to ensure the quality of listings on the ARRA account and helps circumvent some fraudulent listings.
If you wish to display your registration in our database for public viewing, choose 'No' during the art registration process to create a public registration. If you choose 'Yes', no one will be able to publicly view the owner of your registered art piece. Your identity will remain private.
Yes. The registered owner of the artwork can be any name, company, or trust. ARRA protects the privacy of our members and supports anonymous registration through the issuance of a registration code.
ARRA is not an online art marketplace. ARRA does not sell or participate in the sale of art in any way.
ARRA is a growing community of professional artists. Create an account, check your dashboard, and subscribe to our newsletter to stay in the loop on current events.
