The inaugural African Regional Conference on Artist’s Resale Right, organised by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) alongside the Moroccan Copyright Office (BMDA), took place in Rabat from October 14 to October 16, 2025.
This historical moment marked the start of a series of regional conferences aimed at raising awareness on the crucial importance of Artists’ Resale Rights (ARR) and accelerating its implementation in African countries and beyond.
A much-needed discussion and exchange among policymakers, legal experts, CMOs, and visual artists, this conference came at a timely moment as the region’s creative and cultural landscape is experiencing significant growth, with increasing international recognition and commercial opportunities.
However, despite this momentum, African artists still struggle to secure proper remuneration for the exploitation of their work due to the underdevelopment of national copyright infrastructures in the region.
The host country, however, stands out as an example of progress in protecting artists’ resale rights. WIPO’s Deputy Director General for Copyright and Creative Industries, Sylvie Forbin, highlighted the country’s latest copyright reform as a success story in this regard.
With the host country’s progress setting the tone, the conference moved into two days of panel discussions and interactive workshops where the main stakeholders to advance ARR in Africa were identified: policymakers and regulators; CMOs, art market professionals, galleries, or auction houses; and artists.
Participants subsequently elaborated a roadmap outlining the immediate steps to take for each stakeholder to better improve the African creative ecosystem.
Nonetheless, this roadmap does not represent the end goal for WIPO nor for CMOs worldwide, as another conference on ARR is already in the works this time in Latin America.
Scheduled for the upcoming months, this new regional meeting seeks to address the most pressing resale rights issues in the South American market, another thriving creative hub, yet to fully benefit from ARR.
In a continent where many countries still lack ARR legislation or enforcement, the conference could pave the way for greater support and fair compensation of its artists.