Whenever a musician sells a track, they receive a small payment from the transaction. This is called a royalty. Since 2006, when an artwork is resold on the secondary market for over €1,000, the artist gets a small percentage of the resale value.

Auction Room, Christie's
Auction Room, Christie’s Thomas Rowlandson (1756–1827) and Augustus Charles Pugin (1762–1832) (after) John Bluck (fl. 1791–1819), Joseph Constantine Stadler (fl. 1780–1812), Thomas Sutherland (1785–1838), J. Hill, and Harraden (aquatint engravers)

Primary sales

The first sale of a work are not included in resale rights. The artist should benefit from initially selling the work.

Length of resale right

Resale right lasts for your whole life plus 70 years after your death (since 2012). Whoever inherits your estate is owed money on sales as well. It operates in a number of other countries besides the EU.

How much can I get from artist resale right?

There is a sliding scale from 0.25% to 4% of the sale price for royalties. The maximum you will receive on any resale is €12,500, no matter how much the work sells for.

Collecting artist resale right

To collect payments after sales, artists must use an official collecting agencies. DACS and the Artist’s Collecting Society are the main agencies in the UK. These currently charge 15% of the money collected as a fee.

Read more about the history and legal implications of resale right in our Artlaw section.

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