What is Artist's Resale Right?

The Artist's Resale Right means that you could be entitled to a royalty when your work is resold for €1,000 or more, with the involvement of an auction house, gallery or dealer.

As of 1 January 2012, the Right was extended in the UK to cover sales of work by deceased artists still in copyright, which means that your heirs will also be eligible for royalties. In the UK, copyright lasts for the lifetime of the artist plus 70 years after their death, to the end of that calendar year.

This is the most significant new right for visual artists in recent times, giving you an ongoing stake in the value of your work.

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How much does this service cost?

It is free to sign up to our Artist's Resale Right service.  As we're not-for-profit, we retain a percentage of the royalties we collect on your behalf to cover our costs. 

For royalties collected in the UK we deduct 15% and for royalties collected from overseas we deduct 5%.

As a not-for-profit organisation, we are always striving to keep our costs down so that more money reaches artists and their beneficiaries.

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How much money will I get?

This depends on the resale price. The higher the sale price for the artwork, the lower the overall royalty rate.
  
Your royalty is worked out according to a sliding scale from 4% to 0.25%.

Portion of the sale price	Royalties
From 0 to €50,000	4%
From €50,000.01 to €200,000	3%
From €200,000.01 to €350,000	1%
From €350,000.01 to €500,000	0.5%
Exceeding €500,000	0.25%

  
 
  
 









Royalties are calculated on the sale price for galleries and dealers and the hammer price for auction houses, excluding VAT. The maximum you can receive is capped at €12,500, for one sale of a work, which is reached by works sold for €2 million or more.
 
Please note: this scale is cumulative, which means that where the sale price is higher than the first threshold, the royalty on each portion of the price must be calculated accordingly and added together to arrive at  the final sum.

For example, take an artwork that sells for €210,000. The first €50,000 would achieve 4% (€2,000), the next €150,000 would achieve 3% (€4,500), and the final €10,000 would achieve 1% (€100). The total royalties due would be €6,600.

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Can I collect these royalties directly from those who sold my artwork?

No. In the UK, the Right is operated through a system of compulsory collective management so you can only claim resale royalties through a collecting society such as DACS.

We collect resale royalties for artists and estates who have signed up with us as well as those who have yet to join a collecting society. This means we may already have royalties to pay you. Back to top of page

What nationality must an artist be to receive royalties?

DACS collects ARR royalties in relation to the sales of works by artists who are nationals of the UK or of countries in the European Economic Area (EEA), which comprises:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom. Back to top of page

What happens to the Right when I die?

The Artist’s Resale Right lasts for as long as copyright, which is your lifetime plus 70 years. You can leave the Right in your Will, but only to a natural person or a charity.

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Will you also manage my copyright?

No. Signing up to our Artist’s Resale Right service does not affect your copyright.

Should you have any questions about copyright, you are welcome to make use of our free Copyright Advice Service.

We also offer a Copyright Licensing service for anyone interested in getting help with managing requests to license the copyright in their works.

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I am VAT registered. Will this affect my royalty?

The Artist’s Resale Right is exempt from VAT, so there are no VAT consequences of receiving a resale royalty. Any resale royalties you receive should not be included on your VAT return.

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What if the artwork was made in collaboration with other artists?

The resale royalty is divided equally (unless you have agreed different shares). For example, two artists working in collaboration may each receive 50% of any royalties arising from the resale of their work.

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