A Royal Pushover

I think it will be wonderful for artists, if it can be implemented correctly and fully. However, in India, the art market lacks discipline. Who will monitor sales, register them, keep track of resales? Even galleries do not tell you who has bought your painting. In such a scene, the issue of ensuring resale royalty for artists is but a minor thing.

Of course, it will benefit artists as and when the prices of paintings rise. Right now, prices of paintings are not high enough for the royalty to be a sizeable amount — Indian paintings are not in the same league as Western art.

I must also add this kind of a law will make buyers hesitate because of the cut they will have to give to the artists. Also, it will mean a white transaction, which may not be desirable for the buyer and/or the seller. So this hesitation will create a slump.

The bottom line is, who wants to get in to the hassle?

Renu Modi
Owner,Gallery Espace, New Delhi

When Tyeb Mehta’s painting sold recently for Rs 1.4 crore, there was a certain lobby that said that a certain commission should go to Mehta. There were arguments and counter arguments at the time. Some also said that a commission was out of the question.

But personally, I think once artists have sold their art, why should they get a royalty or a commission on a resale?

Art in India is in its infancy. For this kind of law to come into place, it will take time. Apart from auctions, no sales are transparent and if you add the resale criterion, it will only add to the confusion.

Then, again, who will organise a system for payment and receipt of royalties? You have to know who owns the art work, who you are selling to, there are so many dealers in between.

There is no authority yet which certifies authentic paintings, identifies fakes etc. Resale has become big in India, with a whole parallel economy of offloading now expensive works of art — it is impossible to believe we will be able to organise a fair system of royalty payment.

Such issues, including art insurance, authenticity, tax etc, need national level discussion. Art dealers and galleries need to come together. We in Delhi have formed the Gallery Owners’ Association of India and we are trying to address these issues.

The ground is not yet ready for a law like this in India. Even the EU has just about thought about implementing something like this.

Arun Vadehra
Owner, Vadehra Art Gallery, Delhi

I think artists deserve resale royalty. In fact, I would like such a legislation to come through in India. Historically, artists and their families have done poorly financially. I think when a Vincent van Gogh sells for $ 50 million, his family is certainly entitled to some due.

This is true for all artists, actors, singers, dancers. An artist goes through years of poverty and struggle and when his painting gets sold for millions later — my conscience tells me, a royalty is called for. How much is .25 per cent afterall? It is a small fraction — surely we can have some sense of philanthropy?

The ground is ready for such a law. We need to get it right away. Artists will welcome it. They have been talking about it for a long time. Informally, they have been telling me that this should be implemented. They would be very happy if it happens.

I think resales of Rs 5 lakh and above should be eligible for royalty payment. Even if it is 1 per cent, it is merely Rs 5,000 for a resale of Rs 5 lakh.

This law must be implemented globally for it to work. Otherwise, countries which implement it will lose trade to areas which do not have the law. Also, artists are bound to feel bitter because they will lose out on their royalty.

Anjolie Ela Menon
Artist

I think it is a wonderful legislation. Tyeb Mehta’s painting went at such an enormous amount. I think the Times Group should have stepped up the pace and given him a part of the proceeds suggestive of appreciation, instead of pocketing the whole amount. It was certainly a windfall — buying the painting for Rs 15 lakh and selling it for Rs 1.5 crore, in such a short period. I hope it is enacted in India.

However, there is a lot of trading which goes on in black, therefore, implementing such a law will be impossible. Who will register or declare sales? In India, art quietly changes hands.

How many people know there is a copyright law which remains with the painter even after it is sold? Only recently, a big corporate house, which owns one of my works called to ‘inform’ me that they were printing it on their greeting card. People don’t even know about copyright laws.

I think the intention behind such a thing is wonderful, but I am sceptical about its implementation.

Nitin Bhayana
Art collector

I believe this law makes sense. Royalty is just a small percentage of the resale value, it would be nice if artists could benefit from it.

I don’t believe such a law will affect the market because everyone is paying by cheque now. I buy art and pay by cheque and pay sales tax.

Apart from the obvious monetary benefit for the artist, the trade will also get documented in the process. But a law like this cannot come to India. You can’t disinvest an oil company, how can you bring a law like this? The downside of such a law is you have to pay twice — you are already paying capital gains tax when you resell, on top of it, you are also paying royalty to the artist.

It’s like saying, I have this property and anybody who buys it from me, if it gets resold after 500 years, I should get a percentage of it.