Droit De Suite Down Under: Should Australia Introduce a Resale Royalties Scheme for Visual Artists?

Abstract:     
A droit de suite entitles visual artists and their heirs to receive a royalty from the resale of certain works of art. Recently, there have been calls for Australia to introduce a resale royalty right into the Copyright Act. However, academic commentary and empirical research question whether resale royalties achieve their stated aims. In particular, evidence demonstrates that resale royalties tend to accrue to established artists and their heirs, providing little or no financial benefit to the vast majority of artists. This paper discusses whether Australia should introduce a droit de suite and considers other alternatives to such a scheme.

Keywords: droit de suite, Australia, resale, royalties, visual artists

JEL Classifications: K00, K11

Accepted Paper Series