Taxing Creativity

Xuan-Thao Nguyen (Washington) & Jeffrey A. Maine (Maine), Taxing Creativity, 89 Tenn. L. Rev. 523 (2022):

The recent sell offs of song catalogs by Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Neil Young, and Mick Fleetwood for extraordinarily large sums of money raise questions about the law on creativity. While patent and copyright laws encourage a wide array of creative endeavors, tax laws governing monetization of creative works do not. 

The Songwriters Capital Gains Equity Act, in particular, solidifies creativity exceptionalism, exacerbates tax inequities among creators, and perpetuates racial disparities in the tax Code. This Article asserts that the law must encourage creativity from all creators. It is time to eliminate tax exceptionalism for musical compositions or expand its scope to cover a broader classification of creative property.

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• Jack Bogdanski (Lewis & Clark), Did Bob Dylan Sell The Copyrights To His 600 Songs To Avoid A Higher Capital Gains Tax Rate In The Biden Administration? (Dec. 9, 2020)
• Wall Street Journal, Bob Dylan’s Catalog Sale Highlights A Tax Advantage For Songwriters (Dec. 14, 2020)
• Washington Post, Bob Dylan’s Genius Was Rewarded By The Tax Code (Dec. 22, 2020)