EU Artists Resale Right (or "Droit de Suite") Directive

http://www.entemp.ie/press/2006/20060619a.htm :

Minister Michael Ahern Announces the Signing of Regulations Implementing the EU Artists Resale Right (or "Droit de Suite") Directive

Michael Ahern T.D., Minister for Trade and Commerce at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has announced the signing of Regulations transposing into Irish Law EU Directive 2001/84/EC on the resale rights of authors of original works of art. The Regulations, entitled the European Communities (Artists Resale Right) Regulations, S.I. No. 312 of 2006, came into effect on 13 June 2006.

The Regulations provide for a new right in Irish law entitling artists to payment where their art works are resold through the art trade. MinisterAhern 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 intention had been to implement this EU Directive through an Act of theOireachtas. However, following consultation between my department and the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism as well the Attorney General's Office, I have decided that, rather than wait for all of the more complex matters to be addressed in their entirety, a more immediate two-stage approach to this transpositon should be adopted.

"I am now taking those interim steps which are open to me in the present Regulations. The intention is to revisit some aspects, such as the exemption threshold value for eligible works and the duration of the right, in the proposed Bill. While the minimum art value threshold is being set at €3,000, for now, it is intended that this will be lowered in the primary legislation. The Directive raises some other optional issues and these can only be addressed in the proposed Bill also."

These Regulations under the European Communities Act 1972 on the mandatory provisions of the Directive will be followed, as soon as possible, with proposals on the optional and discretionary elements of the Directive being put before the Houses in the proposed Intellectual Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. The essential benefit of this is to allow for the immediate transposition of the Directive essentials."

Concluding, Minister Ahern said that he was pleased to see his Department working closely in this field with the Department of Arts Sport and Tourism. "It has been the long stated objective of Minister O'Donoghue to maximise the benefit of Artists Resale Right to Irish artists and their families."

Note for Editors
Background

Often also called "Droit de Suite", Artists Resale Right Schemes have operated in many European countries since the 1920's. After World War II the number of states providing artists droit de suite increased steadily. By the early 1990's, most EU member states had had operational schemes in place. There were, however, considerable differences in the way the right was operated in the various countries. A few countries, like Ireland, did not have schemes.
Following detailed discussions a unanimous compromise was agreed in late2 001. Transposition of the Directive was set for January 2006 for living artists. Member States were allowed a derogation for deceased artists delaying implementation until January 2010.

Across the EU, the effect of the Directive is intended therefore both to introduce the right where it does not exist and make all of the MemberStates implementations broadly similar.
The main issues which the new Regulations provide for include:-
* artists right to benefit from the resale of his/her work (Regulation 3),
* right being non-transferrable or saleable (Regulation 4),
* minimum art value threshold set, for now, at €3,000 (net of tax) (Regulation 5),
* benefit being confined, for now, to EU & EEA nationals (Regulation 6),
* establishment of a liability on the seller to pay the royalty (Regulation 7)
* artists right to information on sales (Regulation 8),
* royalty rates and bands for calculating amounts due (Regulation 9), and
* duration of resale right set, for now, at the artist's lifetime (Regulation 10)

As well as revisiting the arrangement in Regulations 5, 6 and 10, the upcoming Intellectual Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill will also deal with a number of other aspects in the EU Directive including:-
* Joint liability for payment of the royalty (Article 1.3),
* reciprocation of resale rights with third countries (Article 7),
* period or 'term of protection'(Articles 6.1 and 8.2), and
* timing arrangements for any increased term of protection (Article 8.3),
The Regulations are available at
http://www.entemp.ie/science/ipr/copyrightsis.htm
The Directive is linked from
http://www.entemp.ie/science/ipr/eu-copyright.htm

For queries/further information on Artists Resale Right
John Rutledge,
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
E-Mail john_rutledge@entemp.ie

Social Partnership Agreement 2006-2015

Towards 2016, Ten-Year Framework Social Partnership Agreement 2006-2015

Available at:
http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/index.asp?locID=181&docID=2755

Labour Relations Commission Annual Report 2005

27 June 2006

http://www.lrc.ie/viewdoc.asp?m=u&fn=/documents/pressreleases/RecordReferralLevelstoLRC.htm:

Record Referral Levels to LRC

* The Labour Relations Commission today announced that it had received a record number of referrals to its services in 2005. The Commission, at the launch of its Annual Report for 2005, confirmed that the number of referrals to its Rights Commissioner Service, which included complaints of Unfair Dismissal and allegations of breaches of the 'Organisation of Working Time', 'Fixed Term Work' and 'Payment of Wages' Acts among others, had increased by 18% over the 2004 level.

* The Commission attributed the increase in referrals to an increasing awareness among those in employment, and particularly migrant workers, of the body of employment rights available in Ireland and a genuine confidence in the capacity of the Commission to deal effectively with complaints. The Commission also believes that the impact of the increasingly wide jurisdiction of Rights Commissioners, now extending to 19 separate pieces of Legislation, is now being felt.

* "The Commission has invested significantly in awareness raising throughout 2005 and the effects of our work and the work of the Employment Rights Division of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment are plainly evident in the referral figures now being recorded by the Commission" said Mr Maurice Cashell, Chairman of the LRC.

* The Commission also confirmed that referrals to its Conciliation and Advisory Services had increased by 14% and 18% respectively in 2005. Gross activity for the year included 2,809 Rights Commissioners hearings, 2,054 Conciliation meetings and 145 Advisory Projects.

* "The essential work of the LRC is the effective delivery of service on a daily basis to employers, employees and their representatives throughout the Country" said Mr Cashell, " and while the Commission must, and does, have the capacity to deal with high profile disputes like the Irish Ferries dispute, the core value to Irish employments of the work of the LRC is the thousands of interventions taking place each year - ranging from rights determination to dispute resolution to advice on good practice".

* The Commission's Annual Report also confirmed that in 2005 it had dealt effectively with referrals under the pay provisions of the Sustaining Progress Agreement (115 cases) as well as the new legislation on Voluntary Dispute Resolution in cases where Union Recognition arrangements are not in place (149 cases).

* Commenting on the excellent track record of the parties to industrial disputes in Ireland in terms of finding resolution through dialogue and the use of robust procedures, the Chairman said " The priority for the Commission now is to support the parties to Irish employment relationships by working hard to identify problems at the earliest possible moment, advising and assisting the development of strong in-house procedures in companies and working to ensure that the Commission's services remain flexible and relevant to the needs of Irish employments."
* Mr Cashell commented that evidence of the commitment of the Commission to these priorities included the launch of a new Workplace Mediation Service at the latter end of 2005. "This Service is targeted at relationship based disputes in employment and is a direct response by the Commission to the perception of a need in Irish employments today" said Mr Cashell.

Full text of Annual Report 2005:

http://www.lrc.ie/viewdoc.asp?m=u&fn=/documents/annualreports/2005/launch.htm