Artist Resale Rights in the UK

The Antiques Trade Gazette just published an update on the the UK Artist Rights Resale act which is looking to increase the threshold for filing from 1,000 euros to 3,000 euros.  The move would save small UK dealers and galleries about 27 euros per transaction.  The ATG reports there are nearly 4 times the number of sales at the 1,000 euro level than at the 3,000 euro level.

The ATG reports

All may not be lost as the Artists' Resale Right is extended on January 1.

Under the terms of the European Union Directive, the British government has the power to raise the threshold at which it applies from €1000 to €3000, which would make a huge difference to smaller art dealerships who do not have the resources to administer the Resale Right as it stands.

ATG, among other campaigners, is calling for just such a measure to be taken.

The Netherlands and Austria set their thresholds at €3000, in accordance with the Directive, and even the minister who eventually gold-plated the terms of the Directive by lowering the threshold to €1000 had earlier said that it would be wrong to do so.

"The administrative costs become an absurdly high proportion of the actual payments which will go to artists," he told the Culture Committee in March 2005.

And he was right.

It costs around £25, currently €27.5, per transaction for dealers and auction houses to administer the Resale Right. This is out of all proportion to the benefit at the lower end. For a €1000 sale, for instance, the Resale Right would be €40, 15 per cent of which goes to the collecting society, leaving the artist with €34. Effectively, this means it costs the trade professional €27.5 to administer a payment of €34 to an artist.

If the threshold stays at €1000 after January 1, it will affect around four times as many sales as it does now. If, however, the government raised the threshold to €3000, it would instantly make a substantial difference to the industry, and follow the Directive's aim more closely to harmonise markets across the EU.

Source: Antiques Trade Gazette