Introducing the resale right in Japan takes centre stage at Tokyo academic symposium
On 25 February, CISAC and the Waseda University Research Center for the Legal Systems of Intellectual Property (RCLIP) held the second in a series of annual symposiums on the visual artists’ resale right, also known as droit de suite, in Tokyo. The conference, titled Artists’ Resale Right Symposium 2017, marked the continuation in CISAC’s international efforts to advocate for the universal adoption of the resale right, which is currently not available in Japan.
The symposium was opened by Waseda University Dean of Faculty of Law, Prof Yoshiki Kurumisawa. He was followed by CISAC Director General Gadi Oron who provided an update on the campaign spearheaded by CISAC, GESAC and EVA to promote international discussions on the right at the UN’s agency for intellectual property, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). CISAC Regional Director for Asia-Pacific Benjamin Ng then detailed developments in both China and Australia. RCLIP Adjunct Researcher Dr Akiko Ogawa followed with a presentation of the Waseda draft law on droit de suite for Japan. The draft received comments by Professor Emeritus Hiroshi Saito of Niigata University.
Following these presentations, a panel discussion was moderated by Dr Akiko Ogawa, including painter and JASPAR Director Kazuhiko Fukuouji; JASPAR Consultant Yukihiro Okada; art dealer and Tokyo Art Dealers’ Association Director Moriichi Okazai; lawyer and Tokyo Art Dealers’ Association Legal Advisor Michiya Kimura; Shusuke Seki of the Tobu Department Store Art Section as well as art collector Daisuke Miyatsu and artist Yasuhiro Hatano. Waseda University Faculty of Law Prof Ryu Takabayashi concluded the full day of helping educate and advocate for the introduction of droit de suite on behalf of visual artists.
