Today, I want you to look at a painting and imagine the artist’s journey in creating that work. Imagine the struggles and triumphs in between every stroke. Imagine how the artist must have fretted over the sum the work would command, whether it would cover the cost of the materials and the canvas, how long the money would last to feed him or her, and whether it would allow him or her to keep making art.

Imagine, too, that the artwork would fetch an exponential value — a value the artist could only dream of but will never see in his or her lifetime.

Unlike other artists that could take royalties from the mass-scale distribution of their works (e.g. music artists, book authors), visual artists are deprived of this rolling source of income as transactions with artists are believed to end with the first sale.

Resale rights bring a balance to this disparity for visual artists. It holds the promise that when a painting, sculpture or manuscript changes hands, the artists or their heirs will receive a share of the proceeds, usually up to five percent. While modest in value, these rights acknowledge the artists’ enduring connection to their works and the fuel they pour into the booming art scene.

Earlier this month, our Bureau of Copyright and Related Rights (BCRR) enlightened over 50 visual artists on this much overlooked right. The hybrid talk was held at the Pinto Art Museum, initiated by 2024 Gawad Yamang Isip awardee Ramon Orlina, with the support of the museum’s founder, Dr. Joven Cuanang. Our BCRR Director Emerson Cuyo provided practical tips for artists to learn how they can enforce their resale rights and future-proof their claim of ownership over their works.

The topic of resale rights is of special interest as the Philippines is part of the growing body of jurisdictions with resale rights provisions in their copyright laws. Today, there is a global push for other jurisdictions to recognize the same.

In the Philippines, several individuals are organizing a collective management organization (CMO) to help visual artists enforce their resale rights. The pioneering members could include the heirs of Vicente Manansala, Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, Jerry Elizalde Navarro, Alfredo Carmelo, Abdulmari Asia Imao, Dominador Castañeda and Larry Alcala; Fundacion Sanso, which preserves the works of Juvenal Sanso; and multi-awarded artists Ramon Orlina and Michael Cacnio.

Orlina, dubbed the “Father of Philippine Glass Sculpture” who is leading the charge, said the CMO has long been his vision for visual artists, beginning from his presidency at the Art Association of the Philippines Foundation (AAP) in the 1990s. He recalled attending back then a seminar conducted by the Goethe Institute which showcased the successful operations of collecting societies in Germany.

However, at the time, the local law was only a Presidential Decree which meant there were no clear implementing guidelines. With the resale rights codified in the Intellectual Property Code and its rules and regulations, Orlina recently succeeded in prodding one auction house to give him his rightful due after presenting robust documentary proof that his works at the auction had been registered with IPOPHL. Orlina laments that auction houses have been slow in acknowledging artists’ resale rights but is hopeful the CMO can help speed up that process.

To artists, resale rights serve as a reminder that an artwork is not just a commercial commodity but a legacy of its creator and his or her enduring connection to his or her work. In an era where the market’s dynamics often overshadow the artist’s role, resale rights could shift the balance from exploitation to fairness.