The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), the European Visual Arts (EVA), and the European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers (GESAC) have recently started a petition to include artists’ resale rights in the next revision of the Berne Convention. The petition wants to ensure that all Berne countries guarantee that authors of graphic and plastic arts receive a small percentage of the resale price that art market professionals make when the art in question is resold at a gallery or an auction. Currently about 65 countries, including India have such a provision in their domestic legislation and the petition seeks to harmonize this across all Berne signatory countries. The two largest markets for such art works – USA & China – have started the legislative process for including these provisions in their domestic legislation. Achille Forler also sends us two relevant quotes from heirs of artists to illustrate the request.
“The role of a trustee is to defend and illustrate the work of the artist of whom he is the depositary; this means establishing the descriptive catalog of the artist’s work, participate in exhibitions, fight against counterfeits, archive any historical document about the artist, have a full-time secretariat. This work has a cost, and the Resale Right is essential to contribute to the costs generated by this work. ” – Alexis POLIAKOFF, heir to the work of Serge POLIAKOFF
“The Resale Right is an absolutely necessary piece of legislation for artists, of course, but also assigns like myself, to cover as much as possible the substantial costs and time needed to defend the work of the artist, attacked on all sides by counterfeiters and rogues that proliferate worldwide.” – Romana SEVERINI BRUNORI, heir of the painter Gino SEVERINI
This provision may be especially relevant in the context of artists from developing countries as their art works have a higher likelihood of being bought at relatively lower prices and then resold into richer countries at higher prices. I’ve reproduced portions of the petition below. I’d like to request our readers to consider signing the petition if they agree that this is a worthwhile cause.
FOR THE UNIVERSAL RECOGNITION OF THE RESALE RIGHT
“The resale right is a fundamental right for authors of graphic and plastic arts.It consists of a small percentage of the resale price that art market professionals pay to them at each resale of their works be it in auction or in a gallery.
The specificity of visual artists is that their primary source of income is the material selling of their original works. While auction houses and galleries make their business by taking commissions, it would be paradoxical that artists do not benefit from the income generated by their works on the art market.
This is why the resale right, which is not applicable to first sales and therefore not on those galleries that do the work of promoting artists, was created. It also helps to restore the balance with the authors of other creative sectors (composers, screen-writers and film directors, writers, … ) whose rights of reproduction and communication to the public cannot be compared with those of visual artists.”
“In a global world, the protection of artists should be the same in different places of the art market, be it London, Paris, New York or Hong Kong. Moreover, the United States and China, the first two art markets in the world, began the legislative process to recognize this right. Canada is also considering its introduction. At the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), more and more voices are calling for the right to become mandatory within the Berne Convention.
Thus, the authors of fine arts from the five continents – and not just those of Western countries – must be able to benefit from the wealth generated by the sales of their creations. And the first ones being concerned are the artists from emerging countries whose works are purchased at low prices and then resold with significant gains on the art markets of Western countries.”
The full petition is available here. You can also check their website for more details. We’d like to thank Achille Forller for bringing this to our attention.
