The right to follow (from the French Droit the suite) or artist’s resale right is a right granted to artists or their heirs in some jurisdictions to receive a fee for the resale of their artwork. This should be contrasted with policies such as the American first sale doctrine, where artists have no right to control or profit from subsequent sales.
The history of the right to follow
The history of droit de suite began in the 1920s, when a group of French artists banded together to fight for recognition of their intellectual property rights. The artists believed that they should be compensated for the commercial use of their artwork, even after they had sold it. This idea is based on the premise that an artist’s reputation and legacy can grow after their death, and that the artist and their descendants should receive their share of the financial benefits associated with that growth.
In 1920, France became the first country to legally recognize the right of artists to receive a percentage of the resale price of their works. Other countries eventually passed similar laws, and today many countries have legislation that protects the rights of artists under the droit de suite principle.
On March 13, 1996, the European Commission published a proposal for a directive to harmonize legislation in all 15 member states of the European Union on the receipt of royalties from the resale of artists’ works.
In 2001, the European Union introduced a Directive requiring all member states to adopt a droit de suite law. According to the Directive, artists or their heirs should receive a percentage of the resale price of original works of art, and the percentage itself depends on the country. The purpose of this Directive is to provide artists with a fair share of the profits made from the sale of their original works, as well as to support and promote the development of art in Europe.
The proposal for a European Directive was made by Mario Monti, the Single Market Commissioner, and aims to eliminate distortions in the market for works of contemporary art within the EU Single Market. The proposal also reflects the EU’s policy of promoting a high level of protection for intellectual property rights holders.
How does Ukrainian law regulate the issue of “right of follow”
According to Article 30 of the Law “On Copyright and Related Rights”: The author has the inalienable right to receive a fair remuneration, subject to part three of this article, as a share of the deductions from each sale of an original artistic work (a work of graphic or plastic art, such as a drawing, collage, painting, drawing, engraving, print, lithograph, sculpture, tapestry, ceramic and glass work, photographic work, etc.), an original manuscript of a literary or musical work, following the sale of the original made by the author (right of succession).
And Article 31 of the Law of Ukraine “On Copyright and Related Rights” states that the term of intellectual property rights to a work expires in 70 years, calculated from January 1 of the year following the year of the author’s death. This means that even after the author’s death, the heirs and heirs’ heirs may receive a percentage of the sale of a particular copyrighted work.
The question arises as to what percentage the author and heirs can receive for the work under Ukrainian law?
Fair remuneration from the right to follow
Pursuant to Article 30(2) of the Law of Ukraine “On Copyright and Related Rights”, everything depends on the price of the subsequent sale, excluding taxes, the amount of fair remuneration provided for in part one of this article.
1) 6 percent – for the sale price equivalent to EUR 50 to EUR 3,000 inclusive;
2) 5 percent – for the sale price equivalent to EUR 3,000.01 to EUR 50,000 inclusive;
3) 3 percent – for the range of the sale price equivalent to EUR 50,000.01 to EUR 200,000;
4) 1 percent – for the range of the sale price equivalent to EUR 200,000.01 to EUR 350,000;
5) 0.5 percent – for the range of the sale price equivalent to EUR 350,000.01 to EUR 500,000;
6) 0.25 percent – for the sale price above the equivalent of EUR 500,000.
At the same time, the total amount of fair remuneration for each subsequent sale of one original work referred to in Article 30(1) following the first alienation thereof may not exceed the amount equivalent to EUR 12,500.
It is worth noting that the percentage of the right of followership is different in each country of the world, so you should follow the current legislation of the country you are primarily interested in.
If you have any questions, you can always contact the intellectual property lawyers of our law firm, and we will be happy to advise you or help you restore your already violated rights.
artist / copyright / fair remuneration / intellectual property / the right to follow
