Buying Art Doesn’t Mean Full Control: Collectors Must Check Copyrights
Creatrip Team
2 months ago
As Korea’s art market matures, collectors often expand from home display to lending, resale and staging exhibitions—but buying a work does not automatically grant rights for reproduction or public display. Copyright usually stays with the artist, so using images in catalogs, on websites/SNS (social media), placing works in commercial spaces, or organizing shows are all copyright uses that may require permission and fees. Surveys show creators and users cite a lack of clear fee standards and many artists support a copyright trust management (신탁관리단체) to handle licensing and payments. New rules coming in 2027 include a resale-right (재판매청구권) to give artists a share when works are resold. Collectors should clarify usage scope with galleries or artists when purchasing—especially if they plan to publish images, install works in public/commercial places, lend or exhibit them—to avoid disputes and improve collection value. Currently, AI-generated works are generally not granted copyright protection, which affects market treatment of such pieces.
