CISAC Meets with Japanese Government to Promote the Visual Artists' Resale Right

In a move to promote the implementation of the resale right in Japan, a delegation of CISAC executives, visual artists, and representatives of the Japanese Society for Protecting Artists Rights (JASPAR) met today with the Commissioner of the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs (Bunka-Cho), Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Tokyo.

CISAC Director General Gadi Oron, CISAC Regional Director for Asia-Pacific Benjamin Ng, celebrated Japanese painter and JASPAR Director Kazuhiro Fukuoji and Adjunct Researcher, RCLIP and Waseda University and JASPAR Director Dr. Akiko Ogawa met with Mr. Masanori Aoyagi, Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs. 

The courtesy visit provided an opportunity for CISAC and JASPAR to lay arguments in favor of the adoption of the visual artists' resale right in Japan, a major art market where this right currently does not exist.  As the resale right is a reciprocal right, its adoption would enable Japanese visual artists to benefit from a small percentage of the price of their work when it is resold by an auction house, an art gallery or an art dealer in Japan, and in the many other countries around the world where the right exists. The delegation also sought the government’s support for the discussions currently underway at WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright, on the resale right.

During the meeting, CISAC explained how the right works in practice and how it has benefitted artists around the world.  The international campaign for the universal adoption of the right was also discussed in detail. The government was overall favourable to reconsider its position on the resale right issue, considering that the resale right is becoming the global standard and that it would make sense to consider the resale right in Japan so that it may help grow the Japanese art market and prevent local talent from leaving to other countries.