IAF statement on Artist’s Resale Right at SCCR 39

Luke AlcottArtists Resale Right, News, Visual Arts, WIPO

As the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) held the 39th session of its Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), Luke Alcott spoke on behalf of the International Authors Forum (IAF) to give authors’ view on the Artist’s Resale Right (ARR):

On behalf of over 700,000 authors including visual artists and we wish to express our thanks to those member states who have supported the Resale Royalty Right (or droit de suite), in particular Senegal and Congo for their proposal to include Artist’s Resale Royalty Right as a standing item on the future agenda of the SCCR, which we fully support.

We hope we can further support the work of the task force through the expertise of our members who manage, support or hope to establish this right in their country.

Resale Right can give a fair contribution from the global art market to the community of the creator. As has been raised by many delegations today, a lack of reciprocity can create an injustice between the global art market and the creator.

It is important that artists in all countries can benefit from the resale of their creations; this is a matter of equity with how creators of other works are respected and rewarded for the continued enjoyment of their creation.

IAF strongly supports the inclusion of the Artist’s Resale Right on the SCCR agenda and the progress of the Resale Right task force at WIPO.