THE RULE
A royalty on resale
GOV.UK says authors of original works of art are entitled to a royalty each time a work is resold through an auction house or art market professional.
Check a saleART SALES, EXPLAINED
Sold again?
The artist shares.
Art often sells more than once.
Check a sale
4%top royalty rate
Since 2006, UK law has given artists, and later their heirs, a small royalty each time an original work is resold through the art market. This independent guide explains how the Artist's Resale Right works, using GOV.UK and the law itself.
At a glance
- £1,000 or more
- Through a professional
- Paid via a society
- Three tests for a resale royalty
£12,500 max
Most one resale can pay
The royalty is cumulative, like income tax bands, falling from 4% to 0.25% above £500,000, and is capped at £12,500 for any single sale.
THE CAP · GOV.UK
£144m+
Royalties since 2006
DACS says it has helped artists and estates claim over £144 million in resale royalties since the right began in the UK in 2006.
PAID OUT · DACS
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
A small share,
a long reach.
One figure on the most a single sale can pay,
one on what the right has paid out since 2006.
Before 1 April 2024 the thresholds were set in euros (€1,000 minimum, €12,500 cap). The 2023 amendment regulations moved them to pounds.
A QUICK SALE CHECK
Would this sale
pay a royalty?
Pick a resale to see whether the Artist's Resale Right applies and roughly what the royalty would be under the sliding scale. The bar shows how much is due.
Worked from the GOV.UK rates for sales from 1 April 2024. General information only, not legal or tax advice.
THE SHORT ANSWER
Resale, not
first sale.
The right does not touch the first sale.
It applies when the work changes hands again.
WHAT COUNTS
Original and limited
Paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, ceramics, glass and photographs can qualify. DACS says mass reproductions such as unlimited posters do not.
What qualifies
HOW LONG
Life plus 70 years
The right lasts as long as copyright: the artist's lifetime and 70 years after death, so heirs can benefit from later sales.
See the numbers
FOUR THINGS TO KNOW
How the money
reaches the artist.
The right is built so that artists do not have to chase buyers themselves. Here is the route a royalty takes, as GOV.UK, DACS and the 2006 Regulations describe it.
A professional is involved
The resale must involve an auction house, gallery or art dealer. DACS says the professional and the seller are both legally responsible for paying.
A society collects it
Royalties are managed by collecting societies, DACS or ACS in the UK. GOV.UK says artists cannot ask the seller for payment directly.
It cannot be signed away
The 2006 Regulations say the right is not assignable and a waiver of it has no effect, so a contract cannot remove it.
Nationality matters
The artist must be a UK national or from a country with a reciprocal right, such as EEA states, Australia and New Zealand.
WHERE IT CAME FROM
A famous painting,
a family left out.
DACS traces the idea to Jean-François Millet's The Angelus. Millet sold it for around 1,000 francs and died in 1875; in 1889 it resold at auction for 553,000 francs while his heirs lived in poverty. France made the 'droit de suite' law in 1920.
The EU harmonised the right in Directive 2001/84/EC, and the UK brought it in in 2006, first for living artists only. It was extended to artists' estates in 2012 and kept, in pounds, after the UK left the EU.
Questions
Questions people ask
Does the right apply when I first sell my own work?
No. It applies to resales, when a work that has already been sold changes hands again through an art market professional such as an auction house, gallery or dealer.
What is the minimum price?
From 1 April 2024 the right applies when the resale price reaches or exceeds £1,000. Before that date the threshold was €1,000.
How much is the royalty?
It is a sliding, cumulative scale: 4% up to £50,000, 3% to £200,000, 1% to £350,000, 0.5% to £500,000 and 0.25% above that, capped at £12,500 per sale, according to GOV.UK.
Who collects the money?
Collecting societies, the Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) or the Artists' Collecting Society (ACS) in the UK. GOV.UK says individual artists cannot request payment directly from the art market professional.
What happens after the artist dies?
The right lasts for 70 years after the artist's death. DACS notes it can be left to someone in a will, and UK law extended it to estates in 2012.
Sources
Where the facts come from
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