For artists, by artists since 1984
It can sometimes feel like there isn’t the support out there for artists, so it is refreshing and comforting knowing that DACS exists! Here’s to many more years of DACS supporting artist’s rights, income and creative freedom.
Illustrator
We campaign and advocate for the rights of artists, creators and their beneficiaries, making sure they can receive fair pay for their work.
This has included:
- securing the Artist’s Resale Right
- ensuring new AI programming models respect artists’ copyright
- supporting the Smart Fund, which proposes tech companies pay creators for work
- copying, storing and sharing on digital devices
We do this through:
- talking to and providing evidence to the UK government about policies impacting visual artists, creators and beneficiaries
- bringing our members together to discuss key issues affecting them
- raising awareness of artists’ and creators’ issues through events and campaigns
Get royalties if your work is resold
Has your work been resold for €1000 or more by an art market professional? The Artist’s Resale Right (ARR) law means you could be due royalties. We track art sales by auction houses, galleries and art dealers in the UK to secure these payments for artists and estates.
ARR provides valuable extra income for artists, and helps them stay informed on how their work is performing on the wider art market.
DACS has collected at total of £120 million for artists and their beneficiaries in ARR royalties since 2006.
Get TV and publications royalties
Has your work been featured in UK publications or on TV? Let us know the details.
Every year, DACS receives a share of publication and TV royalty payments from companies and organisations. We distribute the money between visual creators who’ve registered with us for the Payback scheme. This includes photographers, fine artists, illustrators, sculptors and cartoonists. It also includes artists’ and creators’ representatives, plus their estates and beneficiaries.
The scheme provides artists and creators with a reliable extra income throughout their career, to help with studio rent, materials and other costs. Since 1999, we’ve paid out £70 million in Payback royalties. Can we help you, too?
In 2022, we shared £4.6 million in Payback royalties with artists, creators and beneficiaries. We paid up to £357 for book and magazine claims, and up to £2000 for claims that included TV.
License your work
Have you had a licensing request for your work? We liaise with you and the individual or organisation to establish a collaboration which respects your practice, values and preferences. We’ll make sure your rights are protected and help grow your income too.
We offer a complete, end-to-end service: putting licences in place, collecting royalty fees, and releasing high quality image files through DACS Licensing. Our picture library, Artimage, holds over 30,000 hi-res, artist or estate-approved images.
Clients are assured of:
- the best possible images
- usage approval
- money collected going directly back to DACS members — helping support UK visual artists and creators
In 2022, DACS secured £1.4 million for artists, creators and estates by licensing works on their behalf. We worked with over 700 customers and put 1800 licences in place for our members.
Access copyright advice
DACS gives free expert legal advice on copyright issues to our ARR and Licensing members. This covers:
- copyright infringement
- UK copyright law
- contracts and copyright
Copyright doesn’t have to be confusing: we can simplify things for you.
We help you to understand copyright law, so you can protect your rights.
Request to licence an artwork
Do you want to feature a work in your print, digital publication, on TV or on a product? We can help you find images and understand your responsibilities around copyright licensing.
Find out if you need to pay ARR (Artist's Resale Right)
Are you an art market professional planning to sell a work that has sold before? Understand your responsibilities around Artist’s Resale Right (ARR) when reselling work as an auction house, gallery or art dealer.
