On the 8th of June, WIPO headed east and landed in Bataan, Philippines for another regional conference on Artists’ Resale Right (ARR), where visual artists, policymakers, and art organizations reconvened to explore strategies for strengthening the enforcement of ARR provisions across the Asia-Pacific region.
Co-organized by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), the conference demonstrated that momentum behind this crucial right is growing, as it has been happening in Africa and the Americas. However, the pace of achieving consistent implementation across countries in the region remains uneven, to say the least.
Australia currently leads the way, having distributed AUD $15 million to approximately 3000 artists through its ARR scheme since its launch in 2010. New Zealand activated reciprocity with the United Kingdom in 2024, while South Korea passed ARR legislation in 2023.
At the other end of the spectrum, many of the countries represented at the conference still lack the legal and institutional frameworks necessary for ARR to flourish and support a healthy creative ecosystem.
The host country itself exemplifies the gap between legislation and effective implementation, particularly in an increasingly globalized and digital art market. Although ARR was officially recognized in the Philippine Intellectual Property Code of 1997, its implementation has remained limited. More importantly, awareness of the right among artists, galleries, collectors, and other art market professionals is still relatively low, leaving considerable room for improvement.
As IPOPHL Director General Teodoro C. Pascua explained, the significance of ARR extends far beyond percentages and legal frameworks; it is fundamental to ensuring the long-term sustainability of Asian artists’ careers.
“Resale royalties are about recognizing the continuing contribution of artists to the value of their works and strengthening the long-term sustainability of creative careers. Ultimately, the debate over artists’ resale rights is about more than percentages and legal frameworks. It is about the kind of creative economy societies we want to build.”
Among the participants were renowned artists Nemesio Miranda, Abdulmari “Toym” de Le-on Imao Jr., Alberto “Badz” Magsumbol, and Megs Empinado, who, together with fellow participants, contributed to developing a comprehensive roadmap to strengthen the visibility, administration, and enforcement of ARR throughout the region.
The conference marked a turning point for the Asia-Pacific, recognizing the cultural value of Artists’ Resale Right as a driver of economic growth and competitiveness. In many ways, it also represented the latest chapter in a story that began in 1889, when Jean-François Mil-let’s The Angelus was resold for the outstanding sum of 555 000 francs while the artist’s family was living in poverty.
That sale sparked the movement that eventually gave rise to the droit de suite, the artist’s resale royalty right. More than 150 years later, that same principle has gained renewed momentum on the other side of the world, where countries across the Asia-Pacific are working to ensure that artists continue to benefit from the increasing value of their work long after its first sale.