Madam, - The copyright of artists in their works of art, i.e. their intellectual property right, is already protected in law and no one has argued for its removal.
Droit de suite is not about copyright. It is about ownership of a product once sold. The artist's resale right undermines private property rights and, without the backing of EU legislation, it could never have been passed into law in this country, as it is contrary to the Irish Constitution's protection of those rights.
Robert Ballagh (September 1st) yet again raises the argument that artists should be compared to authors and composers. These produce works for mass consumption - whoever heard of a book written for a single reader or a piece of music composed for just one listener?
Artists already had protection against the exploitation of their works through reproduction, just as authors and composers do. They did not require droit de suite to achieve this parity.
In the normal course of events, artists produce a piece of art for a single consumer and are more akin to architects and engineers than to authors and composers. If an artist's resale right is valid, surely an architect has as much claim for a slice of a property's value each time "his" building is sold, and an engineer who designs a toll bridge an equally "valid" claim for part of the toll every time "his" bridge is crossed. I believe Pauline Bewick has stated the informed view of many artists, which is that droit de suite will greatly help established artists while imposing a barrier to investment in art and thus being less than helpful to the artistic community as a whole.
At the very least, it will create resentment among those who invest in art. That cannot be good for artists generally, however many thousands of euro a select handful of already successful artists pocket annually from this iniquitous provision.
By arguing strenuously for this unfair provision, some successful artists are undermining the investment process that helped establish their reputations - and their product value - in the first place. Is this akin to pulling the ladder up after oneself? - Yours, etc,
ALAN COOKE, CEO, Irish Auctioneers' and Valuers' Institute, Merrion Square, Dublin 2.