Copyright protection for performers

Performers will have copyright protection for their audiovisual works as a result of the successful conclusion of 12 years negotiations by the members of the World intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which has resulted in the finalisation of the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances on 26 June. The treaty will enter into force when ratified by 30 contracting parties. Sri Lanka is also a member of WIPO.

This is the first international treaty since 1996, when members of WIPO signed the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), which updated international standards of protection for sound performances but excluded audiovisual performances.

This new agreement will give performers protection for the first time in the digital environment, which means that the performers will be protected from the unauthorised use of their performances in audiovisual media such as television, film and video. The treaty will give the choice between an automatic transfer of rights to producers once a performer has agreed to have their performances recorded or to make this transfer subject to the performer’s consent. It will also permit performers to potentially share in the proceeds that currently go to producers and allow performers to object to any modification of their performances should they be “prejudicial to their reputation”.

Performers will also have the exclusive right of authorising the direct or indirect reproduction of their performances, even in the digital environment and the exclusive right to authorise the distribution, rental and broadcasting of their performances. Contracting parties to the treaty will also have to provide the same treatment given in their national legislation.

Some other important features of the treaty include certain moral rights – independently of the performer’s economic rights and even after the transfer of their rights, the performer will have the right to claim to be identified as the performer of his performances except where omission is dictated by the manner of the use of the performance, to object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification of his performance that would be prejudicial to his reputation, maintain the rights granted to a performer to be maintained even after his death at least till the expiry of his economic rights. The treaty also provides for the performer to enjoy the exclusive right of authorising the direct or indirect reproduction of their performances fixed in audio visual fixations. Performers will also enjoy the exclusive right of authorising the making available to the public of the original and copies of their performances fixed in audiovisual fixations through sale or other transfer of ownership. Performers will also have the exclusive right of authorising the commercial rental of their performances.

This treaty will strengthen the position of film and television performers by providing an international framework for their intellectual property rights, which has been a long-felt need.



(Manel de Silva holds an Honours Degree in Political Science from the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya and has engaged in professional training in Commercial Diplomacy at ITC and GATT. She has served as a trade diplomat in several Sri Lankan Missions overseas and was the first female Head of the Department of Commerce as Director General of Commerce.)