Agreement reached on Improvement of Resale Right at EU Level

On 17th February, the European Commission (EC) and representatives of collecting management societies, art market professionals, artists and authors signed the "Key Principles and Recommendations on the management of the Author Resale Right”

The signed document outlines key principles, facilitating the administration and improving the transparency of the collection and distribution of the resale right. This right entitles certain artists and their successors to a royalty, for a limited period of time, each time their art work is resold. As the Author Resale Right is the most valuable right for authors of fine arts including photographers this agreement is very likely to be a milestone in the European Union.

We are delighted about the agreement with the art market professionals. These recommendations are an important step to increase the recognition of authors rights”, says EVA (European Visual Artists)’s President Javier Gutiérrez Vicén. Unfortunately, two of the major global art markets (US and China) do not recognize resale right in their laws. Although the right is provided by Article 14ter of the International Berne Convention on Copyrights, it is not binding. Collecting societies such as CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers), EVA or GESAC (Groupement Europeen des Societes d’Auteurs et Compositeurs) launched a campaign, accompanied by a petition, to make the right mandatory under a new international treaty, thus ensuring the benefits of the right to visual artists all over the world. (Picture: © 2013 European Visual Artists (EVA)).

The EFJ strongly encourages its affiliates to support this campaign by signing the petition.