The Incompatibility of Droit de Suite with Common Law Theories of Copyright

Although proponents have recently been attempting to strengthen droit de suite, or artists' resale royalty rights, throughout the world, all laws based on the right are flawed — so much so that further implementation would have almost none of the positive effects that its sponsors hope for. This is to say that droit de suite, which is meant to protect young artists, actually discourages the creation of art by young artists, and reduces the amount of money an artist can make from a sale. Furthermore, droit de suite conflicts with basic common law notions of copyright and property and is incompatible with standard theories of intellectual property law. This paper discusses how droit de suite works in practice, providing a detailed analysis of its failures and an explanation of why attempts to further promulgate the right in common law nations should be quashed.