The Singer or the Song? Developments in Performers' Rights from the Perspective of a Cultural Economist

Abstract

Abstract Over the last century, performers gradually acquired statutory protection of their economic and moral rights. These rights are not copyright in the legal sense but neighboring rights and until recently, they were mainly remuneration rights that are collectively administered. With the WPPT (WIPO Performers and Phonograms Treaty), performers now have individual exclusive rights for digital performances; this leads to the question: what has motivated this change – is it a change in the perception of the value of performer or a change brought about by the changing technology of copying or, indeed, a change that reflects different economic costs and benefits? The paper discusses the role of copyright law as an incentive to performers and asks if the economic role of the performer is so different from that of the author. The conclusion is that a complex interaction of the legal regulations, economic conditions and institutional arrangements for administering these new rights will determine the outcome.

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