It’s Not That Easy: Artist Resale Royalty Rights and The ART Act

By Laurel Wickersham Salisbury.

The discussion of droit de suite, or resale royalty rights for visual artists, across the globe continues to be of interest while European authorities debate the mechanics of the right and the United States Congress considers new legislation. In France and Italy, respectively, a court decision^[1] and new industry guidelines inform the collection of the royalty payment. Meanwhile in the U.S., the discussion over implementation of the resale royalty right through federal legislation continues. If it is true that “[c]reativity is an American value,”^[2] why hasn’t the U.S. established a federal resale royalty law following the example set by dozens of nations? Efforts to pass such legislation give recognition to the fact that the right could bring some fairness to the secondary art market for visual artists.

Overview of Current Law in Europe

Currently, more than 70 countries, including the UK and EU countries, provide for resale royalties to visual artists.^[3] In the EU, member countries were required to implement legislation establishing the right by January 1, 2006 in accordance with directive 2001/84/EC.^[4]