Enchanted Owl by Inuk artist Kenojuak Ashevak is shown in an undated handout photo.HO/The Canadian Press
Painters, sculptors and other visual artists are set to receive a percentage of sales when their art is resold. The proposed change to copyright law is designed to bolster incomes and bring Canada in line with many other countries that have similar royalty regimes.
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.
About 90 other countries, including Australia, Britain and France, already have a royalty regime for artists, giving them a portion of proceeds when their works are resold. But Canadian artists currently get nothing, even if their work has significantly increased in value since it was first sold.
The late Inuk artist Kenojuak Ashevak at a show at Feheley Fine Arts in Toronto in 2011.Della Rollins/The Globe and Mail
Among those who stand to benefit are 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.
Theresie Tungilik, an artist who lives in Rankin Inlet, said many Nunavut artists encounter obstacles marketing their work, in part because they only speak Inuktitut. She said some are selling their work door-to-door or on a Facebook page. Some carvings are so heavy that they are too expensive to send to buyers outside the territory.
She said the change would help alleviate poverty among artists in Nunavut.
“If you go to the auction house website, you see how much the art is going for. We celebrate that. But the sad thing is, they now won’t get any part of it,” she said.
A government bill implementing the fall economic statement will include the creation of an artists’ resale right, giving them an expected 5 per cent of sale proceeds of works that cost more than $1,000. The Canadian Heritage Department has been pushing for the change for several years.
Canadian Artists’ Representation (CARFAC) has also been calling for an artists’ royalty for years, including for their estates to receive funds decades after their deaths, in line with copyright rules.
April Britski, CARFAC executive director, said she hoped this week’s political turbulence, including the resignation of former finance minister Chrystia Freeland hours before she was due to present the fall economic statement, would not interfere with the change going through Parliament swiftly.
“I don’t know if it’s ever been really possible for most artists, even the really successful ones, to only earn a living from their art “ she said. “It’s harder now. It is for everybody, but certainly for visual artists.”
Brenda McClellan, a Newfoundland artist who runs the Red Ochre gallery in St. John’s, welcomed the change to the copyright law, saying it was “about time.”
She said some of her works used to sell for a few hundred dollars. But her canvases now can sell for several thousand.
“On the whole artists are very underpaid. It takes a while for artists to get established and for people to know their name,” she said. “Some artists do very well, but every artist would appreciate receiving a percentage.”
Newfoundland artist George Horan, whose landscapes include depictions of the province’s rugged coastline, began exhibiting his paintings in 1980. He said it was satisfying to see a work appreciate in value “but without the resale right it doesn’t pay any bills.”
Canadian artists will also be able to collect a royalty if their work is sold abroad in a country that has reciprocal resale rights.
Edmonton-based artist Paddy Lamb said the update recognizes the years professional artists spend developing their careers. “It provides a little more equity in the Canadian arts economy. Certainly it will help older, senior artists, who are often among the most at risk,” he said in an e-mail.
Ottawa artist Barbara Gamble said older artists tend to travel less to stage exhibitions of their new work. The former CARFAC board member had been pressing Parliamentarians, including Ottawa MP Pierre Poilievre, now Conservative Leader, to make the copyright change for years.
“I’m glad that the government is acknowledging that this is something they must do.”
Editor’s note: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this article indicated an incorrect sale price for a work by Kenojuak Ashevak. This version has been corrected.
