A Research On The System Of Resale Right

Resale right is the claim of profit distribution held by the holder during the process of original works resale. It is for the balancing the interests between the art market author and art dealer. Additionally, it is also for maintaining the substantive justice of each subject in the art market. The resale right has a history of one hundred years in the world and has been recognized by more than 80 countries. In 2012, the National Copyright Administration has published the revised draft of “Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China” which introduced the system of resale right to our country law. However, it only involves the principle regulations. The resale right has been controversial since its establishment in 1920 in France. The introduction of resale right in China has aroused a wide discussion among the academic circles and art market. At present, the academic circles have not yet found a verdict for the legal attribute of resale right, whether it has the theoretical and realistic foundation to be introduced in China and the way to establish the system of resale right. Thus, a further research is needed.This article aims to clarify the legal attribute of resale right and discuss about whether this system has the basis of implementation in China. In the end, a personal opinion on the establishment of resale right in China is provided. Moreover, this article explores the system of resale right by utilizing the literature research, the comparative analysis and the empirical research method. In general, this article is composed of four parts. The first part clarifies the legal attribute of resale right, focusing on its etymology, definition and characteristics and analyzing its essence. This leads to the conclusion that the resale right is not a type of copyright but the claim of profit distribution. With the consideration of the requirements of international conventions and the transplantation and implementation of resale right in other countries, the second part explores valuable experiences from them during the establishment of resale right in China. Based on the second part, the third part analyzes the necessity and feasibility with the considerations of current situations in China. Finally, the last part indicates that there are also some obstacles of the system establishment, and come up with several approaches of removing these obstacles. Firstly, the specific principles should be refined, such as the subject, the object, the applicable situation and valid period of resale right. Secondly, the supporting measures should be refined, such as the collective management system, the right of access information and the registration system of art circulation.