UK Artist’s Resale Right marks 20 years of returning value to artists and their heirs

This morning, DACS gathered with artists, estates, parliamentarians and professionals from the art industry at the House of Lords to mark two decades of the Artist’s Resale Right (ARR) coming into force across the UK, with the anniversary falling on 14th February 2026.

Speeches were given by DACS CEO Christian Zimmermann, Chris Bryant MP and Judy Corbalis - author and wife of the late sculptor Phillip King - reflecting on ARR’s impact, its artist‑led origins, and its continued importance for creators and their estates.

About the Artist's Resale Right

ARR ensures that artists and their beneficiaries share in the success of their creative works when sold on the secondary art market.

• Since 2006, DACS has collected over £176 million in ARR royalties from secondary market sales of artworks, with a combined ARR collection figure of over £200m between DACS and ACS (The Artist Collecting Society).
• £144 million have been distributed to 7,000 artists and their heirs, including £9.2 million in 2025 alone.
• In total, combined ARR collection figure of over £200m between DACS and ACS (The Artist Collecting Society) to over a combined total of 8,000 artists and their heirs since 2006.
• Over half of ARR payments (59%) are under £500, showing that it supports works that sell for smaller amounts, not high value sales. Around 8% of payments go to first-time recipients, including emerging artists born after 1990, demonstrating that lesser-known talent benefits too.
• UK market context: £9.7 billion in 2023; ARR royalties = 0.1% of market value (BAMF Report 2023) 

Since ARR was introduced, £144 million has been distributed through DACS to artists and beneficiaries, helping creators sustain their practice and supporting estates and heirs for decades after a work’s first sale.

ARR is the legal right that provides artists and their beneficiaries with a royalty payment when an eligible artwork is resold for £1,000 or more through an art market professional such as a gallery, auction house, or art dealer. Royalties are calculated on a sliding scale - from 4% down to 0.25% - with a minimum payment of £40 and a maximum of £12,500 per work per sale.

The right lasts for the same period as copyright, during an artist’s lifetime and for 70 years after their death. In the UK, the art market professional who facilitates the resale typically pays the royalty to DACS, which then distributes royalties to the artist or beneficiary; in law, both the seller and the art market professional share responsibility for payment.

Artist Peter Doig said “I think it is entirely fair that artists receive royalties from secondary market sales of their work – and appropriate that the benefits of the Artist’s Resale Right are now being recognised and introduced more widely across the world.”

Katherine & Susanna Heron, beneficiaries of the Patrick Heron Trust said: “The Patrick Heron estate and now the Charitable Trust, is totally dependent on ARR and we advocate support for its continuation being to the benefit of artists and their estates, and thus the whole artistic community.” 

The campaign in the UK began in 1993 as the Artists’ Campaign for the Resale Right, led by an artist executive committee with support from a legal adviser and a DACS-provided administrator. Years of persistent work with government officials, MPs, MEPs, and other key bodies were required to advance UK artists’ interests and secure the right. 

ARR in the UK was introduced as a result of a European directive, and it remains an important part of the UK’s cultural and economic ecosystem, helping to strengthen fairness and transparency in the secondary market.

DACS continues to advocate for ARR’s protection in UK law and for wider international adoption, so artists can benefit wherever their work travels and resells.