How South Korea embracing the Artist’s Resale Right is supporting fairer pay
For almost 20 years the Artist’s Resale Right (ARR) has brought fair pay and support to UK artists and their heirs. After recognising the importance of the right, South Korea is looking to introduce ARR into law.
Under a change in law, South Korea will implement their Artist’s Resale Right scheme by 2027. This marks an important moment where ARR will be recognised and put into effect in a country outside of Europe with an expanding art market.
As South Korea begins to lay the foundations for ARR, the Korean Arts Management Service (KAMS) called on DACS’ expertise to guide their strategy for implementing the law.
In June 2025, KAMS held the International Conference on Visual Arts Copyright and invited DACS to share the experience of managing ARR in the UK. DACS joined Copyright Agency in Australia, Bildrecht in Austria and CISAC to share various regional perspectives.
As the top distributor of ARR royalties globally, combined with unique experience of navigating ARR post-Brexit, DACS shared insights into how to build and operate a successful ARR scheme, and drew on the highly positive impact ARR has on artists and estates.
As Korea prepares to implement the Artist’s Resale Right (ARR) in 2027, there are both high expectations and considerations. The 2025 International Conference on Copyright in the Visual Arts provided a valuable opportunity to shed light on the potential impact of ARR on the Korean art market by sharing successful case studies from leading countries.
Visual Arts Division, KAMS
History of the Artist's Resale Right
Since coming into force in 2006 in the UK, DACS has distributed over £130 million to more than 6000 artists and their heirs. In 2024 alone DACS distributed £8.8million, with 107 UK artists receiving the royalty for the first time. ARR has helped to keep artists afloat and allowed them to continue making work: in a survey of artists, 75% reported reinvesting their royalties back into their practice. DACS’ report in 2023 found that ARR benefitted artists selling at the lower end of the market, including young artists born after 1990.
The future in South Korea
The conference organised by KAMS provided a great opportunity for international representatives to hear from one another and learn more about running a successful Artist's Resale Right scheme. Themes included information and awareness building both for artists and art market professionals; tools to help reporting sales such as the royalty calculator and artist’s search function and recommendations on policy making.
DACS supports the extension of ARR into new markets and to ensure that this vital right for artists and their heirs is safeguarded in the UK, and is pleased to engage with KAMS and other international partners to work towards the expansion of ARR across the world.
About the author
Reema Selhi is Head of Policy and International at DACS, involved in DACS’ advocacy work that supports artists’ rights.
