STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS 
 
S.I. No. 312 of 2006 
 
 
 
European Communities (Artist’ s Resale Right) Regulations 2006 
 
 
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S.I. No. 312 of 2006  
 
European Communities (Artist’s Resale Right) Regulations 2006  
 
I, MICHEÁL MARTIN, Minister for Enterpri se, Trade and E mploym ent, in exercise 
of the powers conferred on m e by secti on 3 of th e European Communities Act 1972 
(No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive No. 
2001/84/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 Septem ber 20011, 
hereby m ake the following regulations: 
 
 
Citation 
1. These Regulations m ay be cited as th e European Communitie s (Artist’ s Resale 
Right) Regulations 2006. 
 
Definitions, interpretation and application. 
2. (1) In these Regulations: 
 
“author”, in relation to an or iginal work of  art, means the p erson who cre ates the wor k; 
 
“contract date”, in relation to  a sale, m eans the tim e at wh ich the contract of sale was 
made; 
 
“Council Directive” m eans Council Direct ive N o.2001/84/E C of the European 
Parliam ent and of the Council of 27 Septem ber 20011; 
 
“resale” is to be constru ed in acco rdance with R egulation 5; 
 
“resale right” m eans the resale ri ght established in Regulation 3; 
 
“resale roy alty” has the m eaning given in Regulation 3; 
 
“sale price” has the m eaning given in Regulation 3. 
 
 
                                                (2) A word or expression that is us ed in these Regulations and in the 
Council Directive has, unless th e contrary intention appears,  the m eaning it has in the 
Council Directive. 
 
 (3) A court shall construe these Regulat ions in a m anner that gives effect to 
the Council Directive, and for this purpose the court shall have regard  to the provisions 
of that directive, including the preambles. 
 
1 O.J No. L272, 13.10.01, p.32. 
 
 2 
 (4) These Regulations apply in re spect of  original works of art 
notwithstanding that the works sold m ay have  been m ade before the comm encement of 
these Regulations. 
 
Artist’s res ale righ t. 
3. (1) The author of an original work of art shall, in accordance with these 
Regulations, have a right (“resa le rig ht”) to a roy alty on any s ale of the w ork which is  a 
resale subsequent to the firs t transfer of ownership by the author (“resale royalty”).  
 
 (2) The royalty is an am ount based on the sale price and shall be calculated 
in acco rdance with Regulation 9. 
 
 (3) The sale p rice is the price (in eu ro) obtained for the sale, net of any tax 
payable on the sale. 
 
 
Resale righ t is ina liena ble. 
4. (1) Resale right is an inaliena ble right and is not assignable. 
 
 (2) A charge on a resale right is void. 
 
 (3) A waiver of a resale right has no effect. 
 
 (4) An agreem ent to share o r repay resale royalties is void. 
 
Resale. 
5. (1) The sale of an original work of ar t may be regarded as a resale even if 
the first transfer of owne rship was not m ade for a ny consideration (m oney or 
otherwise). 
 
 (2) The sale of an original work of art m ay be regarded as a resale only if 
both of the following conditions are m et: 
 
(a) the buyer, the seller or, if the sale takes place through an agent, 
the agent of the buyer or  the seller, is acting in the course of a 
business of dealing in works of art; 
 
(b) the sale price is  not less than €3,000. 
 
 
Nationality of author. 
6. Resale right m ay be exercised in respect of a sale only if the author of the work 
sold is, on the contract date  of the sale, a national of  a Me mber State, Iceland, 
Liechtenstein or Norway. 
 
 3Liability to pay resale royalty. 
 7. (1) On com pletion of  the sale, the se ller is liab le to p ay the res ale 
royalty due in respect of the sale. 
 
 (2) However, the seller under para graph (1) m ay withhold payment until 
sufficient ev idence of en titlem ent to be  paid the resale royalty is produced. 
 
 (3) Any liability  to pay res ale royalty in respect of resale right b elonging to 
more than one person as joint authors is discharged by a paym ent of the total am ount 
of the royalty to one of those persons.  
 
 
Right to obtain information. 
 8. (1) The author of an original work of art m ay request a person 
involved in the sale of th e work who m eets the condition s et out in Regulation 5(2 )(a) 
to provide the author with any inform ation that m ay be necessary for the author to 
secure payment of the resale royalty. 
 
 (2) The person to whom  a request is  made under paragraph (1) shall m ake 
every effort to provide the inform ation to th e author within 90 da ys from  the date of 
the requ est. 
 
 (3) If infor mation is not provided in accordance with paragraph (2), the 
author m ay apply to the High Court for an  order requiring the person to w hom the 
request was m ade to provide the inform ation. 
 
 (4) A request under this regulation sh all be m ade within 3 years f rom the 
date of  the s ale to which  it relates. 
 
 
Amount of resale royalty payable. 
 9. (1) Subject to th e lim it estab lished in paragraph (2), the resale 
royalty payable on the resale of an origin al work of art shall be the sum  of the 
following amounts, being percentage am ounts of consecutive portions of the sale price:  
 
Portion of the sale price  Percentage amount  
Up to  €50,000 4% 
From  €50,000.01 to €200,000 3% 
From  €200,000.01 to €350,000 1% 
From  €350,000.01 to €500,000 0.5% 
Exceeding € 500,000 0.25% 
 
 (2) The total amount of royalty payabl e on the sale shall not in any event 
exceed €12, 500. 
 
 4 5 (3) For the purposes of this Regulation, if the sale price in the contract of 
sale is not in euro, the pri ce shall be converted into euro at the European Central Bank 
reference rate prevaili ng on the contract date. 
 
Duration of resale right. 
 10. Resale right in an original work of art subsists during the lifetime of the author but is extinguished on his or her death.  
 
 
 
 
       GIVEN under my Official Seal, 
 L.S.        This 13th day of  June, 2006. 
 
MICHEÁL MARTIN 
          
         M i n i s t e r  f o r  E n t e r p r i s e ,  
         Trade and Employment. 
 
 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
 
(This note is not part of the Instrume nt and does not purport to be a legal 
interpretation) 
 
These Regulations transpose into Irish law Di rective 2001/84/EC of the European 
Parliament and of the Council of 27 Septem ber 2001 on the resale right for the benefit 
of the author of an original work of art.  This will allow creators of original works of 
visual and plastic art, through a system of r oyalty payments, to benefit from resales of 
those works when they are sold thro ugh the professional art market.