Problems of Legal Regulation of Performers’ Economic Rights in Lithuania Cover Image

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Problems of Legal Regulation of Performers’ Economic Rights in Lithuania

Author(s): Jūratė Usonienė, Nijolė Janina Matulevičienė, Ramūnas Birštonas
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence
Published by: Mykolas Romeris University
Keywords: performers’ rights; performers’ exclusive rights; performers’ right to the remuneration; related rights; author’s rights

Summary/Abstract: This article aims to analyze the legal regulation of performers’ rights in Lithuania. Analysis is divided in two parts: the first part analyses performers’ economic rights by comparing them to the authors’ economic rights and the legal regulation of performers’ rights in foreign countries; the second part of article focuses on the different content of performers’ economic rights due to the mean of fixation of performance (unfixed performance, performance fixed to the phonogram, audiovisual fixation of performance). Analysis of the Lithuanian legal regulation on performers’ economic right has shown that although Copyright Law of Lithuania in general complies with international and EU acts governing performers’ rights, four main fields of legal regulation need to be revised. Firstly, Copyright Law should provide that when concluding an agreement concerning an audiovisual fixation of his performance with a producer of audiovisual work the performer transfers his exclusive rights to the producer, the performer shall retain an unwaivable right to receive an equitable remuneration for every transferred exclusive right. Secondly, the legal definition of phonogram published for the commercial purposes should be provided in the Law on Copyright of Lithuania. This definition should include not only phonograms in the traditional meaning, but also each phonogram made available for the public in such way that the members of public may access it from a place and at a time individually chosen by them. Thirdly, the system of the compensation for the reproduction of works for the personal use have to be revised in such way that the compensation would ensure the rights owners, including performers’, right to the equitable compensation. The compensation should cover all the modern audio and audiovisual recording media, such as hard disks, USB files etc. The last field for the revision of Law on Copyright is the legal situation of audiovisual performers. As current legal regulation provides very narrow protection for these performers, it has to be revised and audiovisual performers right to the remuneration for broadcasting and communication to the public has to be provided.

  • Issue Year: 18/2011
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 995-1017
  • Page Count: 23
  • Language: Lithuanian
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