Droit de suite, the right for artists to receive an interest in each resale of their original artworks, commemorates one century of existence this year but remains highly hypothetical for many artists worldwide. This article addresses the reasons for this situation and proposes possible solutions by using a comparative law approach. An analysis of international (Berne Convention) and national regulations (Australia and, especially, Brazil) shows that the lack of universality and operationality of the resale royalty right is a consequence of choices made by the Berne Union in 1948. Mainly, the absence of obligation for Member States to implement it and the broad margin left to them that fosters the multiplication of national peculiarities. An amendment of article 14ter of the Berne Convention seems necessary. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) may refer to national and regional experiences – in particular, the European Union Directive 2001/84/EC of 27 September 2001 – as well as existing researches, in the current discussions on the topic, and ensure that visual artists do get a higher and fairer economic return on their work, just as other artists.

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