News | Authors' rights
The unanimously adopted resolution addresses three important issues on resale right:
1) the right should be inheritable like all other copyrights and without any exception.
The European Parliament and Council Directive 84/2001 allowed member state's introducing the right for the first time to exclude works of deceased artists for a limited period in order to adapt market structures to the new right. In principle this optional exception should expire at the end of 2009. However, the countries concerned, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Austria and Malta made use of the optional prolongation for further 2 years despite the fact that the introduction of the right went very smoothly.
2) Article 14ter of the Berne Convention should be made compulsory.
Until today the Berne Convention does not oblige all member states to introduce the right, it is only an option. In order to encourage countries without the right to its introdution the inlander treatment requires for reciprocity. However, it this rules turned out to be no sufficient incentive for introduction of the right. Countries with large and growing international art markets, such as U.S.A., Switzerland and several Asian countries still do not provide for the right, thus depriving many artists and heirs from this important source of income.
3) compulsory collective management
In countries where the right may only be managed by a collecting societies the collection runs very effective and the international revenues are well exchanged and reach authors cross borders.