At present in the UK, once an artist has sold his work he receives no further payment for it, even though it may be resold many times in the future for greater sums of money. In France and many other European countries, artists are paid a percentage of the resale proceeds under a Droit de Suite for as long as copyright protects the work – up to 70 years after the death of the artist.
A European Directive, approved in 2001 after lengthy negotiations, seeks to harmonise the position. It is due to come into force throughout the EU on 1st January 2006.
While it will make little difference to European countries that already have remuneration schemes for artists, the Directive is expected to have a significant impact on the UK, Austria and Ireland, where no such right has previously existed.
The UK government has therefore been particularly concerned to ensure that any negative effects on the strong UK art market are kept to an absolute minimum. It held a consultation on the proposals earlier in the year.
In general terms, the Directive "on the resale right for the benefit of the author of an original work of art" will benefit producers of paintings, photographs, sculptures and other unique works of art.
It provides that a royalty payment will be made to living UK and European artists on works which are sold at a value of €1,000 or more with the help of a professional.
The royalty will be calculated as a percentage of the sale price, with a tapering scale starting at 4% for works valued to €50,000 and decreasing to 0.25% for the proportion of sale above €500,000. The maximum payment on any sale is fixed at €12,500.
In addition the Government intends to use a derogation, negotiated at the time the Directive was agreed, which allows the UK to not extend the rights to deceased artists until 2010 with the possibility of a further extension to 2012.
All royalties will be collected on behalf of artists by a collecting society to reduce the burden on business.
"The introduction of the UK Artists’ Resale Right will bring the UK into line with Europe,” said Ron Marchant, Chief Executive of the UK Patent Office. “Specific details such as the threshold of €1,000 for royalty payments and the derogation not to extend the rights to deceased artists until 2012, will strike a balance between the needs of artists, traders and buyers in the UK."
