The Irish Government has introduced an interim arrangement that will allow artists to benefit from the Artists' Resale Right in advance of full legislation, which is expected early next year.
Yesterday Michael Ahern, Minister for Trade and Commerce at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, announced temporary provisions to enable the implementation of the Artists' Resale Right.
Minister Ahern said: "The new Regulations mean that artists will share in the commercial success of their work and will be entitled to payments of up to €12,500 when individual works created by them are later resold."
The regulations provide for a new right in Irish law entitling artists to payment - a levy called 'Droit de Suite' - when their art works are resold through the art trade.
This announcement comes shortly before artist Robert Ballagh's High Court hearing in which he is seeking damages from the State due to its failure to implement the EU Directive on the Resale Right, which was supposed to be enacted in January 2006.
The temporary measures stipulate that artists will only be able to collect the right on the resale of works that sell for over €3,000 but it is hoped that this threshold will be lowered when full legislation is introduced.
Artists' Resale Right Schemes have operated in many European countries since the 1920s.
