Neighbouring Rights Performances

Neighbouring rights involve compensating creators for public performances of their recorded works, supporting musicians, performers, and the recording industry by providing income from public use.

Background music in public places

Restaurants, bars, retail stores, and other public establishments that play recorded music for their customers may need licenses to perform those sound recordings publicly. This includes background music and jukeboxes.

Broadcasting music

When a radio station or TV network plays a recorded song, the performers and producers of the recording have the right to receive royalties or other compensation for using their work.

man in white crew neck t-shirt sitting on black chair

Theatres and cinemas

When movies or theatrical performances feature a recorded song, this is also considered a public performance. The right to use the sound recording in this context must be licensed, and the performers and producers are compensated for this usage.

Nightclubs and DJs

Clubs and DJs playing recorded music in venues for patrons to dance to are also required to secure licenses for the public performance of sound recordings.

DJ Spinning, Mixing, and Scratching in a Night Club, Hands of dj tweak various track controls on dj's deck, strobe lights and fog, or Dj mixes the track in the nightclub at party. Selective focus

Public events and festivals

Music festivals, fairs, and public gatherings that feature recorded music performances must obtain licenses to perform the music publicly. This applies to recorded music played over sound systems.

Elevator music

Even the music played in elevators, often pre-recorded, is subject to public performance rights. The building or business responsible for playing this music may need to obtain licenses.

Young blonde woman with a short hair uses elevator

Streaming

Neighbouring rights are commonly linked to radio/TV broadcast royalties, while record labels usually control streaming income. Yet, many neighbouring rights collectives, particularly artists-only ones, have successfully advocated for artists to receive streaming royalties directly.

Several countries, including Belgium, Spain, Hungary, and Brazil, follow this model.

Private Copy

Private copying refers to an individual making a personal copy of a recording, like a song or a TV show, for their own private use, such as copying music to a CD or a digital device.

While this act doesn't directly involve performance royalties, the tie-in with neighbouring rights occurs when this private copy is later played in a public setting, like a radio broadcast or in a retail store.

In such cases, the private copy transforms into a public performance under neighbouring rights, entitling the artists and producers to royalties for this broader, public use of their work.

Cable Retransmission

Neighbouring rights collection societies remunerate cable retransmission because it involves rebroadcasting content, such as TV shows and music, over cable networks, constituting a public communication or rebroadcasting of performances and broadcasts originally protected under neighbouring rights.

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