As the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) held the 36th session of its Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), Luke Alcott spoke on behalf of the International Authors Forum (IAF) to give the authors’ view on the Artist’s Resale Right.
WIPO is a special agency of the United Nations dealing with copyright at an international level. The SCCR includes government representatives of the 191 UN member states.
The full statement is as follows:
The International Authors Forum represents over 700,000 authors including visual artists and we wish to express our thanks to those member states who have supported the Resale Right (or droit de suite), in particular Senegal and Congo for its proposal to include Resale Right as a standing item on the future agenda of the SCCR which we strongly approve of.
We have spoken before on the importance of the Artist’s Resale Right.
- The Resale Right can create an eco-system where arts flourish – continuing payment to creators can fund the seed of their next creation and make creation viable for those whose work is already valued. It works both to build a lasting connection between the artists and their work, but also with a Resale Right that acts globally to give a fair contribution from the global art market to the community of the creator. A global Resale Right is not discriminatory and it is fair across the board.
- It is important that artists in all countries can benefit from the resale of their creations without disadvantage; in a global art market it is vital creators are not disadvantaged by the Resale Right having a limited reach. A consistent approach to artists’ rights internationally will ensure that in every country, artists’ creation is respected and encouraged.
We welcome the result of the study on the Economic Implications of the Artist’s Resale Right which has shown that this right does not have a negative effect on the arts market. This is further proof that this measure should be introduced in all countries to ensure that creators receive fair remuneration for their creativity.
The International Authors Forum strongly supports the inclusion of the Artist’s Resale Right on the SCCR agenda and proposals for a Resale Right task force at WIPO. We hope and trust this will not only ensure more artists receive fair remuneration for their creation, but it will also result in a fairness to artists across the globalised art market regardless of where artists live or where their work is sold.