SIAE holds unclaimed resale royalties for artists including Le Corbusier

Many artists or their heirs are failing to claim resale royalties (diritto di seguito) from SIAE, the Italian collecting society, which has collected the fees but not distributed them. Under Italian copyright law (Law 633/1941, articles 144-155), artists of original works—including paintings, collages, drawings, engravings, prints, lithographs, sculptures, tapestries, ceramics, glassworks, photographs, and manuscripts—are entitled to a percentage of the sale price for any resale exceeding €3,000 involving professional art market operators (auction houses, galleries, dealers). The seller must report the sale to SIAE and pay the royalty. SIAE must then notify the rights holders and pay them, minus a commission. However, when artists cannot be located—because SIAE lacks their bank account details—the royalties remain undistributed. SIAE is required to publish a list of unlocated authors in the Gazzetta Ufficiale every six months; the last such publication was on October 31, 2016 (G.U. No. 255). Notable names like Le Corbusier appear on the list, yet SIAE is not obligated to actively track them down—only to publish the list on its website and in the official gazette. After five years from when the royalties become payable, any unclaimed funds are transferred to the National Welfare and Assistance Institute for Painters and Sculptors, Musicians, Writers and Dramatic Authors (ENAP), which was merged into ENPALS and later into INPS, which now manages the funds.