The Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation VEGAP case: the succession mortis causa of the resale royalty right for visual arts

Abstract

The study examines the artist's resale royalty right in works of visual art, the droit de suite, and the difficulties of its transmission mortis causa within the European Union. It takes as its background Case C-518/08, closed by the Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 15 April 2010, known as the Fundación Gala-Salvador Dalí VEGAP case, and covers the definition of the institution in the WIPO glossary, the nature of the right, the Spanish Ley 3/2008, collective management and the French regime. It discusses the unavailability of the right inter vivos and its transmission mortis causa, the absence of harmonisation as to the beneficiaries of the succession, and the impossibility, under some legal orders, of bequeathing the right to foundations created by the visual artists themselves. It holds that the disparity in the treatment of succession affects the effectiveness of the right and aggravates the relocation of art markets, and that a return to a concept of succession based on the general rules, together with deeper harmonisation mechanisms at international level, would address these mismatches.