Brussels, 16/04/2010 (Agence Europe) - In a judgment delivered on Thursday 15 April, the Court of Justice of the EU found for France in its dispute with the Spanish foundation, which manages the works of Salvador Dalí, over the rights of the artist's heirs.
Case C-518/08 relates to resale right, an intellectual property right which allows the author, and his heirs, to receive a royalty based on the sale price obtained for any resale of one of his works subsequent to its first transfer. This right benefits the author throughout his life and, thereafter, his heirs for 70 years after his death. The Court took the view that “member states may make their own legislative choice in determining the categories of persons capable of benefiting from the resale right after the death of the author of a work of art”. The matter had been referred to the Court by the Tribunale de Grande Instance de Paris (Paris Regional Court) before it ruled on a complaint lodged by the Fondación Gala-Salvador Dalí, which administers Dalí's intellectual property rights on behalf of the Spanish state which was named in the artist's will as the sole legatee.
The foundation is challenging a French law which states that resale right cannot be bequeathed by will. When any of Dalí's works are sold in France, the monies in respect of resale right are paid directly to the five members of the artist's family named as heirs in his will, and not to the foundation.
The judges in Luxembourg ruled on Thursday that the French law complies with European law. However, it said, too, that in this specific case, it had to be determined whether French or Spanish law should apply, returning that decision to the national courts. “It is for the referring court to take due account of all the relevant rules for the resolution of conflicts of laws of succession in order to determine which national law governs the succession of Salvador Dalí's resale right,” the Court ruled. (L.C./transl.rt)