The Globe and Mail last weekend ran an interesting article by Kate Taylor: Visual artists seek a percentage of resale riches (hat tip: Stikes). As the article notes:

In 59,countries including most of Europe, [painter Mary] Pratt would get a small percentage (from a fraction of one per cent to five per cent, depending on the sale price) of the hammer price of her resold painting thanks to a principle known as “droit de suite,” or the artist’s resale right.

The right, which has existed in France for decades but was only introduced to the U.K. in 2006, means that an artist, who has previously sold works for low prices, can profit from rising prices on subsequent sales of those pieces. The law applies after death too, so that an artist’s heirs would get a share until copyright expires, 75 years after death in most of these countries.

“The whole value of an art work is not made on the original sale,” said April Britski, national executive director of the Canadian Arts Representation (CARFAC). “Visual artists are at a great disadvantage compared to writers or musicians who keep getting money from recordings or books. [With art,] you sell it once and it’s gone.”

Please see full article below for more information.