OddThinking

So, I was reading an article about US artists wanting “droits d’auteur or “author rights” (as a subset of moral rights) to their work. Apparently these moral rights translate to 5% of the capital gain of all future purchases; it is nice when morals can be so precisely defined in economic terms.

I don’t want to side for or against this law. I can see both sides, and I can see that jurisdictions are divided – California and France, for example, have such laws. Other countries too, but I am not doing research, remember?

I can see it being frustrating for an artist to see their earlier, sold, works appreciating rapidly in value due to the artists’ later efforts in publishing and publicity.

On the other hand, what makes art special in this regard?

Both sides should accept that any such restriction should reduce the initial value of the art. A speculator would pay 5% less if they were to lose 5% of the profits. Less still if there were transaction costs. But then much art isn’t bought purely for speculation: the utility of the art as art would remain for the time it was owned. And much art doesn’t survive to be resold. So, maybe it would be less than a 5% discount. But wait, the NEXT buyer, if any, would also expect a discount, so it gets recursive. Ouch! Oh well, the market and Freakonomics can settle that.

But that wasn’t my point. My point is that artists don’t need to demand a law to support them. They just need a business, Moral Rights Inc., to start up.

Learning from the software industry, rather than selling the art, the artist merely offers a permanent limited-transferable lease on the work. In the lease contract, the 5% fee for transferring the lease to a new buyer can be outlined.

The company, Moral Rights Inc acts as an agent for the artist and can draw up appropriate boilerplate contracts. For a fee, they can also enforce the contract by including clauses that require buyers to produce the work every few years to show they haven’t secretly sold it, or else face appropriate penalties.

No need to wait for politicians to agree – the market can sort it out now!

So, who is a lawyer and wants to be a CEO of my new start-up?