Guidance Topic

  1. This is a complex area and LALG cannot provide further advice to individual groups. For information on performers' rights
  2. Alongside copyright, there are separate protections offered to performers known as ‘performers’ rights’. These provide several rights for performers in relation to their performances. A performer can be anyone who acts, sings, delivers, plays in, or otherwise performs a literary, dramatic or musical work.  Sometimes performers will want to prevent certain uses of their performances. Performers’ rights prevent people from:
  • making recordings of, or broadcasting, a live performance
  • making a recording directly from a broadcast of a live performance
  • making a copy of a recording of the performance
  • issuing copies of a recording to the public
  • renting or lending copies of a recording to the public
  • uploading the recording to the internet where it may be viewed by the public
  1. Performers’ rights can also help to ensure that performers receive payment for their work. For example, when sound recordings of a performance are played in public, the performer should receive payment.
  2. PRS for Music has been set up to collect payments by people who use music protected by performing rights and make payment to the musician.
  3. In the UK, copyright lasts for a period of 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author dies. If the music originates from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), the copyright lasts for as long as the music is protected by copyright in its country of origin, provided that this does not exceed 70 years.
     
  4. If you are using music protected by performing rights, you will need to make a payment for the use of the music.  Sometimes venues have a PRS licence which will cover you but otherwise you need to contact PRS to establish what needs to be paid.