Resale Rights Directive

Directive 2001/84/EC
European Union directive
TitleDirective on the resale right for the benefit of the author of an original work of art
Made byEuropean Parliament & Council
Made underArt. 95
Journal referenceL272, 2001-10-13, pp. 32–36
History
Date made27 September 2001
Entry into force13 October 2001
Implementation date1 January 2006
Preparative texts
Commission proposalC178, 1996-06-21, p. 16
C125, 1998-04-23, p. 8
EESC opinionC75, 1997-03-10, p. 17
EP opinionC132, 1997-04-28, p. 88
Other legislation
Replaces
Amends
Amended by
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Current legislation

Directive 2001/84/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2001 on the resale right for the benefit of the author of an original work of art is a European Union directive in the field of copyright law, made under the internal market provisions of the Treaty of Rome. It creates a right under European Union law for artists to receive royalties on their works when they are resold. This right, often known by its French name droit de suite, appears in the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (as Art. 14ter) and already existed in many, but not all, Member States. As a result, there was a tendency for sellers of works of art to sell them in countries without droit de suite provisions (e.g. United Kingdom) to avoid paying the royalty. This was deemed to be a distortion of the internal market (paras. 8–11 of the preamble), leading to the Directive.