Droit de suite

Droit de suite (French for "right to follow") is a right granted to artists or their heirs, in some jurisdictions, to receive a fee on the resale of their works of art. This should be contrasted with policies such as the American first-sale doctrine, where artists do not have the right to control or profit from subsequent sales.

The droit de suite was first proposed in Europe around 1893, in response to a decrease in the importance of the salon, the end of the private patron, and to champion the cause of the “starving artist.” According to Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, droit de suite was created in France following the sale of Millet's 1858 painting, the Angélus, in 1889 at the Secretan sale.

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.

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 be reformed by article 48 of the DADVSI law, which implements 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 City. Following DADVSI, a government regulation (through a decree) is to set degressive rates and maximal fees so that the Paris marketplace is not hindered.

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