Droit de suite

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Droit de suite (French for "right to follow") is a right granted to artists or their heirs, in some jurisdictions, to perceive a fee on the resale of their works of art.

The 2001/84/EC directive mandates a somewhat uniform system of droit de suite across the European Union. This directive is controversial in the United Kingdom.

In France, this system is in force through article L122-8 of the Code of intellectual property. It will get reformed by article 48 of the DADVSI law, transposing directive 2001/84/EC. During discussions in the French Parliament leading to this law, it was argued that in practice, the droit de suite is only paid at auctions, and that it thus disfavors the Paris art marketplace compared to London or New York. Following DADVSI, a government regulation (through a decree) is to set degressive rates and maximal fees so that the Paris marketplace is not hindered. [1]

According to Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, droit de suite was created in France following the sale of Millet's famous 1858 painting, the Angélus, following the First World War. The owner of the painting made a huge profit from this sale, whereas the family of the artist lived in poverty. Many artists, and their families, had suffered from the war, and droit de suite was a means to remedy socially difficult situations. [2]