DACS Annual Review 2023: £17.6 million paid to 90,000 artists and estates
In 2023, DACS continued its mission to support visual artists and their estates, distributing over £17.6 million in royalties to 90,000 recipients.
This marks a significant achievement in the organization’s ongoing efforts to ensure artists are fairly compensated for their work.
Key highlights from 2023
Record Royalties Distributed
DACS paid out £17.6 million in royalties, benefiting 90,000 artists and estates. This includes £9.4 million from the Artist’s Resale Right, £1.5 million through Copyright Licensing, and £6.7 million from collective licensing schemes such as Payback.
Global Expansion of Artist’s Resale Right (ARR)
The campaign for a global ARR gained momentum, with Mexico implementing the right in 2023 and Australia formalising reciprocity with the UK. The UK government confirmed that ARR would remain protected post-Brexit, with the currency for ARR changing from Euros to Pound Sterling in April 2024.
Advocacy
DACS played a pivotal role in advocating for artists’ rights amidst the emergence of AI technologies. In February 2023, the UK Government withdrew a text and data mining copyright exception that would have undermined artists’ rights, following evidence we submitted in 2022. In Autumn, DACS hosted a panel at the UK’s AI Safety Summit Fringe, bringing together diverse voices to discuss equitable AI development, and launched our Artificial Intelligence and Artists’ Work Survey.
We continued to campaign for the introduction of the Smart Fund, to ensure creators and performers are paid fairly for their work when it is copied and stored on digital devices. In September 2023, DACS represented visual artists at a Culture, Media, and Sport Committee session on creator remuneration, which discussed the extension of existing collective licensing schemes to alleviate low remuneration, as well as the introduction of a Freelancer Commissioner.
DACS, over the years, has been a vital lifeline for me as an artist – I highly recommend DACS to artists at all stages of their careers.
Some notable collaborations
Dior and Duncan Grant: DACS collaborated with Dior and Charleston to license works by Duncan Grant for Dior’s Summer 2023 menswear collection.
FOLK and Tom Hammick: British clothing brand FOLK featured Tom Hammick’s mythological worlds in their 2023 winter collection.
Australian Post and Sidney Nolan: DACS worked with the Sidney Nolan Trust to license images from Nolan’s Antarctica series for a commemorative stamp set by Australian Post.
Looking ahead
DACS remains committed to transforming the financial landscape for visual artists, advocating for strong intellectual property laws, and ensuring artists are fairly paid for their work.
Read more
- Our history
- How to join DACS
