Artists and their families welcome the government's decision on the Artist's Resale Right.
The families and beneficiaries of UK artists stand to benefit from millions in royalties from 1 January 2012 with the full implementation of the Artist’s Resale Right.
This important Right pays artists royalties each time their work is resold by an auction house or art dealer. The Right has applied to living artists since 2006, and DACS (the Design and Artists Copyright Society) has paid artists nearly £14 million in royalties in the last six years.
Artist Damien Hirst explains why he thinks the Artist Resale Right is so important: ‘I’m pleased that the Artist’s Resale Right is finally to be extended to heirs and beneficiaries as in most other EU states. We need to recognise financially their role in preserving art. They spend a lot of time and energy on this and they should have some support.’
The full implementation means that artists can leave this Right to their families with the royalties helping support the vital work carried out by estates to preserve the artist’s legacy after their death (and for 70 years following).
In addition, the Government has also just announced changes to the administration of the Right which will remove the requirement for artists’ beneficiaries to be of UK or EU nationality.
This amendment means that the Artist’s Resale Right can be passed on effectively to many more heirs and beneficiaries. The financial support from the Right will be enormously helpful in recognising the work that heirs and beneficiaries do through conserving artists’ estates including the costs of storage, conservation, cataloguing, research, restoration, assessment of provenance, and the identification of fakes.
A second change to the Right will mean that artists from some countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) will no longer enjoy reciprocal resale rights, and UK artists will no longer receive royalties from some countries outside of the EEA.
Gilane Tawadros, Chief Executive of DACS says: ‘We are delighted that artists’ families and beneficiaries will now benefit from this important Right. In addition, the Government’s decision to rectify a mistake in the original legislation brings the UK into line with the rest of Europe meaning that many more heirs and beneficiaries can benefit.’
Notes for Editors:
1. Over the past five years, as a not-for-profit organisation, DACS has distributed £34.5 million in royalties to visual artists for copyright licensing, Artist’s Resale Right and collective licensing. This represents a direct financial investment into creativity and innovation. DACS’ total distributions to artists represent almost twice as much as the investment made by the Arts Council England to individuals for visual arts related activities over a similar period.
2. The Artist’s Resale Right was introduced in February 2006 and entitles artists to a royalty each time their work changes hands through an auction house or gallery. The Right successfully balances the interests of artists with the interests of the art trade and recognises the on-going stake an artist has in the economic value of their work.
3. Despite fears that the Artist’s Resale Right would divert sales from the UK to countries which do not have an equivalent Right, there has been no evidence to support this. The Right has several mechanisms in place to protect the interests of the art trade including tiered royalty rates ranging from 4% down to 0.25% which are dictated by law, and most significantly, a cap on the royalty an artist can receive on a single sale of €12,500 (approximately £11,000).
4. DACS' online petition supporting the final implementation of the Artist’s Resale Right has almost 2,000 signatures from artists and those with an interest in the art trade.
5. Artists Gavin Turk and Jeremy Deller discuss the importance of royalties for artists with DACS in a series of online interviews.
6. In the UK, the heirs and beneficiaries of a qualifying artist must also be of qualifying nationality themselves in order to benefit. However, non-qualifying beneficiaries are still able to inherit the Right but are barred from exercising it or passing it on whilst the status of their non-qualification lasts.
Meanwhile in other European member states, the eligibility is determined by the nationality and sometimes permanent residency of the artist alone, so many more heirs and beneficiaries are eligible.
The UK Government has now updated the legislation through a Statutory Instrument so that it is consistent with the rest of Europe – that is, the eligibility is determined by the nationality and sometimes permanent residency of the artist alone.
For further information, please contact Tania Spriggens, Director of Communications at DACS on [email protected] or 020 7553 9052.
Photo: Richard Riley. © Brian Benson 2013