Resale Royalty Rights and the Future of Economic Justice for Visual Artists in Malaysia
When a visual artwork is sold for the first time, the artist receives payment for their creative labour. However, what happens when the same artwork is later resold at a significantly higher price?
In many cases, the artist receives nothing, even though the increasing value of the artwork is often linked to their growing reputation, artistic contribution, and cultural significance. This long-standing issue has led many countries to adopt what is known as the Resale Royalty Right (RRR), also referred to by its French term, droit de suite.
What Are Resale Royalty Rights?
Resale Royalty Rights grant visual artists the legal right to receive a percentage of the sale price whenever their original artworks are resold in the secondary art market. Unlike copyright royalties derived from reproduction, broadcasting, or licensing, RRR applies specifically to the resale of original artworks such as paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, and photographs.
The principle behind RRR is simple, artists should continue to share in the economic success of their works when those works appreciate in value over time. For example, an artist may sell a painting for RM2,000 early in their career. Years later, the same artwork may be auctioned for RM50,000 or more. While collectors, galleries, and auction houses may benefit from this appreciation, the artist who created the work often receives no share of the resale proceeds. RRR seeks to address this imbalance.
A Right Born from Economic Fairness
The concept of resale royalty rights originated in France through the Loi du 20 Mai 1920, making France the first country to legally recognize artists' rights to benefit from the resale of their works (Deazley, 2010).
Since then, the right has expanded globally. According to European Visual Artists (2024), more than 100 countries have implemented some form of resale royalty legislation, including member states of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Brazil, Mexico, India, and the Philippines.
Source: European Visual Artists (2024)
Although implementation mechanisms differ across jurisdictions, the underlying objective remains consistent: to ensure that artists participate in the long-term economic value generated by their creative works.
Why Does RRR Matter?
Visual artists face a unique challenge compared to creators in other cultural industries. Musicians continue to earn royalties when their songs are played. Authors may receive royalties from book sales and licensing agreements. Filmmakers and producers can benefit from various forms of intellectual property exploitation. Visual artists, however, typically rely on a one-time sale of their original artworks. Once the artwork leaves the studio, their opportunity to benefit from future increases in value often ends.
This becomes particularly problematic when artworks gain substantial market value years later. While various actors in the art market may benefit financially from these transactions, the artist whose creativity generated that value may receive nothing. For this reason, RRR is often discussed not only as a copyright issue but also as a matter of economic justice, cultural sustainability, and fair participation in the creative economy.
Supporters argue that RRR can:
Promote fairer wealth distribution within the art market;
Support artists throughout their careers;
Encourage sustainability in the creative sector;
Recognize the continuing contribution of artists to cultural development; and
Align the visual arts sector with royalty systems already established in other creative industries.
The Malaysian Situation
Despite the growing international acceptance of Resale Royalty Rights (RRR), Malaysia currently does not have a specific legal framework governing the implementation of resale royalties for visual artists.
While the Copyright Act 1987 protects creators through copyright ownership, it does not provide visual artists with a statutory right to receive royalties from secondary market sales. Consequently, artists generally do not benefit when their artworks are resold through galleries, auction houses, online platforms, or private transactions.
Figure 2 illustrates the structural gap within Malaysia’s current royalty ecosystem. While creators in sectors such as music, film, and publishing benefit from established royalty management mechanisms and recognized royalty recipients, visual artists remain outside a dedicated royalty administration framework. This creates a royalty governance gap, where artists are unable to participate in the economic value generated when their artworks are resold in the secondary market.
Source: Developed by the author based on the study findings (2026)
Malaysia also lacks a dedicated mechanism for collecting and distributing royalties within the visual arts sector. Unlike the music industry, where Collective Management Organizations (CMOs) administer royalties on behalf of creators, no equivalent organization currently exists for visual artists. As a result, there is currently no formal institution responsible for tracking secondary market transactions, collecting resale royalties, or distributing payments to eligible artists and their beneficiaries.
As Malaysia’s visual arts ecosystem continues to grow, this legal and institutional gap becomes increasingly relevant. The growing visibility of local artists, expanding gallery networks, and increasing secondary market transactions suggest that discussions surrounding resale royalties are likely to become more significant in the years ahead. Establishing an effective resale royalty framework would therefore require not only legislative reform but also the development of appropriate governance structures, administrative mechanisms, and stakeholder cooperation to ensure that artists can fairly benefit from the long-term value of their creative works.
Beyond Law: Building an Effective Ecosystem
The implementation of RRR involves more than simply introducing legislation. International experience demonstrates that successful systems typically require several interconnected components, including:
Legal recognition of resale royalty rights;
A dedicated Collective Management Organization (CMO);
Institutional collaboration between relevant agencies;
Transparent royalty collection and distribution mechanisms;
Digital reporting and transaction tracking systems; and
Awareness and education programmes for artists, galleries, collectors, and art market intermediaries.
Together, these elements help create a transparent and accountable framework capable of supporting both artists and the broader art market.
Should artists continue to benefit from the success of their artworks after the initial sale?
Around the world, many countries have answered this question by recognizing artists' rights to participate in the long-term value of their creations. In Malaysia, however, the discussion remains at an early stage. As the country's visual arts ecosystem continues to mature, the question of whether artists should share in the future success of their works may become increasingly difficult to ignore.
Resale Royalty Rights are not merely about royalties. They are about recognizing artistic contribution, promoting sustainability, and fostering a more equitable visual arts ecosystem for future generations. Ultimately, the discussion on Resale Royalty Rights is not only about economic benefits, but also about recognizing the enduring value of artistic labor within Malaysia's cultural landscape.
Author's Note
This article is based on ongoing doctoral research entitled “The Development of Resale Royalty Rights (RRR) Model for Visual Art in Malaysia”, which examines international best practices and stakeholder perspectives towards the implementation of a resale royalty framework for the Malaysian visual arts sector.
Further Reading
CISAC. (2023). Global Collections Report 2023.
Deazley, R. (2010). Rethinking Copyright: History, Theory, Language.
European Commission. (2001). Directive 2001/84/EC on the Resale Right for the Benefit of the Author of an Original Work of Art.
European Visual Artists. (2024). Resale Right Information and International Developments.
European Visual Artists. (2024). The Artist's Resale Right in Europe and Beyond.
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