Artist's Resale Right Explained for UK Print Collectors

I get asked about this fairly often.

When a collector sells one of my prints through a gallery or auction house, a small percentage goes back to me. It's called Artist's Resale Right, or droit de suite if you're feeling French.

It applies to screenprints. And it matters if you're buying or selling in the UK.

What It Is

Artist's Resale Right is a legal royalty. When an original artwork resells through a professional dealer, gallery, or auction house, the artist gets a cut. Not on the first sale—that money's already mine. On subsequent resales.

It covers screenprints, etchings, lithographs, paintings. Anything classed as an original work of art. Mass-produced posters don't count. Limited edition hand-pulled prints do.

The right lasts for the artist's lifetime plus seventy years. After that, it goes to the estate.

When It Kicks In

Only professional resales trigger it. Auction houses, galleries, art dealers. If you sell a print privately to a friend, no royalty applies.

There's a threshold. The sale price has to hit around €1,000 or equivalent in pounds. Below that, nothing's owed. The exact figure shifts slightly with exchange rates and regulatory tweaks, but that's the ballpark.

The seller pays, not the buyer. Usually the gallery or auction house handles it, deducting the royalty before they pay out.

How Much

It's a sliding scale. The percentage drops as the sale price climbs. For most screenprints changing hands at a few hundred to a few thousand pounds, you're looking at around 4% of the hammer price.

High-value works pay less per pound once they're into five or six figures. The rates are set by the UK regulations, not by individual artists.

DACS—the Design and Artists Copyright Society—collects and distributes the royalties in the UK. They handle the admin. Artists register, and DACS chases up galleries and auction houses when a qualifying sale happens.

Why It Exists

The idea came from Europe. Artists argued that when a painting or print goes up in value, they should share in that. A collector buys a screenprint for £300, sells it ten years later for £2,000—under ARR, the artist gets a slice of that £2,000.

It's meant to rebalance things. Galleries and collectors benefit from rising prices. Artists often don't, unless they're still making new work. Resale Right gives them a stake in the secondary market.

Some people dislike it. They say it complicates sales, adds friction. My view: it's a modest percentage on work I've already made. If a print's valuable enough to trigger the threshold, a 4% royalty isn't breaking anyone.

What Collectors Should Know

If you're selling through a reputable gallery or auction house in the UK, they'll handle it. They're legally obliged to.

If you're buying, the royalty's already baked into the seller's net. You pay the sale price. The gallery deducts the royalty and forwards it to DACS. You don't write two cheques.

Private sales between individuals don't count. If you sell a print to another collector directly, no ARR applies. Only professional market transactions.

If you're buying a print and plan to resell it later, factor the royalty into your sums. It's not huge, but it's there.

Brexit and Beyond

Post-Brexit, the UK kept Artist's Resale Right. The regulations didn't vanish when we left the EU. UK artists still get royalties on UK resales, and reciprocal arrangements exist with other countries that have droit de suite.

If you're selling a British artist's work in France or Germany, similar rules apply there. If you're selling abroad and the work's by a UK artist, check the local ARR rules—they vary by country.

Registration

Artists have to register with DACS to claim royalties. It's not automatic. If you're a collector and you know the artist isn't registered, the royalty's still technically owed—it just sits unclaimed.

I'm registered. Most working printmakers are. It's straightforward and costs nothing to sign up.

Does It Affect Print Values?

Not in my experience. Collectors buying screenprints care about the work, the edition size, condition, provenance. A 4% resale royalty doesn't change demand.

If anything, it signals professionalism. A print that's valuable enough to trigger ARR is a print that's held its value.

Practical Stuff

When you're buying from a gallery, ask if ARR applies. Reputable dealers will know. If they say the work's below the threshold, fine. If they're vague, be wary.

Keep your receipts. If you resell, the gallery or auction house will want proof of what you paid. That helps them calculate the royalty correctly.

If you inherit prints and sell them, ARR still applies if the sale's through a professional. The estate pays, same as any seller.

Why I'm Telling You This

Because it comes up. Collectors sometimes worry it's a hidden cost or a surprise charge. It's neither. It's transparent, it's legal, and it's modest.

I've benefited from it a handful of times. Not huge sums, but enough to matter. It means that when a print I made fifteen years ago sells again, I see something from it. That feels fair.

If you're collecting seriously, know that ARR exists. Budget for it if you're flipping work. Respect it—it supports living artists and their estates.

Most of the time, you won't even notice it. The gallery handles it, DACS processes it, the artist gets a payment. Done.

If you'd like to see the prints I'm currently making, visit olifowler.com. Every edition is strictly limited and hand-pulled. Once they're gone, they're gone.