Artistate in Support of Artists’ Resale Right

Artist’s Resale Right – DACS and ACS, the two UK collecting societies, bring legal action against British art dealer for disclosure of sales information and payment of the Artist’s Resale Right.

ARTISTATE supports the Artist’s Resale Right.  Since its introduction in the UK 15 years ago, the Artist’s Resale Right has been a valuable revenue stream for countless visual artists and their estates.  At ARTISTATE, we believe that it is just and fair that artists should benefit from the increase in value of their art beyond the first sale.  The fact that smart contracts embedded into non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) make it possible to include a contractual right to a royalty payable to the artist every time the NFT is resold, reflects that in the 21st century, artists are no longer willing to let collectors and art market professionals be the sole beneficiaries of the artist’s popularity and demand for their art. 

We acknowledge that the Artist’s Resale Right Regulations 2006 are not particularly well drafted.  Notably, the Regulations do not address the important question of whether the royalty is payable when the sale is delocalised. For example the selling gallery may be in New York, the artwork physically stored in the UK, and the contract concluded by email between the New York gallery and a German buyer.  Another example is the difficulty in establishing who inherits the Artist’s Resale Right when the artist dies without a Will, leaving assets in more than one jurisdiction. 

Although most art market professionals in the UK diligently pay the Artist’s Resale royalty when it is due, it is regrettable that some do not. In failing to do so, they deprive artists and estates of their legitimate share in the resale price of their art. We believe that UK art market professionals who refuse to pay the royalty when due undermine the market level-playing field, to the disadvantage of law-abiding art market professionals.