Artist's Resale Right (ARR)
Artist's Resale Right came into force in the UK on 14 February 2006. This right entitles authors of original works of art (including paintings, engravings, sculpture and ceramics) to a royalty each time one of their works is resold through an auction house or art market professional.
The right only applies to sales over €1,000 and is calculated on a sliding scale (see table below). The maximum royalty payable on any single sale is €12,500.
The royalty is subject to compulsory collective management, so artists must receive it through a collecting society.
| The percentage of royalty is shown in the first column. Read cross the row to find the proportion of the resale price in euros. | |
| Royalty | Resale Price (in EUR €) |
|---|---|
| 4% | up to €50,000 |
| 3% | between €50,000.01 and €200,000 |
| 1% | between €200,000.01 and €350,000 |
| 0.5% | between €350,000.01 and €500,000 |
| 0.25% | in excess of €500,000 |
The UK currently uses a derogation in the Directive so the right only applies to works by living artists. This derogation has already been extended once, in 2009, but no further extensions are allowed.
Under existing law the derogation will lapse on 1 January 2012 and resale right will become applicable to qualifying works by deceased artists (that is the author has been dead for less than 70 years). This would bring the UK into line with the majority of EU member states who already apply ARR to the works of deceased artists.
European Commission’s Review under Article 11
The Commission is currently
undertaking a review of the ARR Directive as required under Article 11. The results are expected later
this year. The response 
(53Kb) submitted by the IPO is available.