This iconic print, "The Enchanted Owl," by Kenojuak Ashevak
sold at auction in 2018 for $216,000. In 1960, when she created an edition of 50 prints, half in red and black, each retailed for $75, with Ashevak receiving $24. Without resale rights, artists or their estates receive no royalties despite the growing value of their work. (courtesy Waddington's)
A proposed change to copyright law in Canada will see visual artists getting a percentage of sales when their art is resold. The change was announced this week, according to the Globe and Mail.
The government bill will include an artists’ resale right and is expected to give artists five per cent of sale proceeds of works that cost more than $1,000.
The change will bring Canada in line with close to 90 other countries with similar royalty systems in place. Currently Canadian artists get nothing from third-party resales, even if their work has gone up in value since first sold.
According to the Globe and Mail, “Monday’s fall economic statement included the proposed update to the copyright act, which will give Canadian visual artists a slice of the proceeds if their work is resold at galleries or auction houses.”
The Globe and Mail story says those who stand to benefit include “Inuit artists, whose works can achieve sums many times their original price years later at auction or galleries outside Nunavut. The late Inuk artist Kenojuak Ashevak sold a work called Enchanted Owl in 1960 for $24. Last month it sold at a Canadian auction house for $240,000 – 10,000 times its original value.”
Source: Globe and Mail
