Performers’ rights (correctly known as ‘rights in performances’) give musicians, singers, actors, dancers, and variety performers rights to prevent or give permission for:

●    the recording or broadcasting of their live performances;

●    subsequent commercial exploitation of those recordings, for example by the production and distribution of copies and by subsequent broadcasting and making available via the internet.

Performers’ rights and copyright in sound recordings are closely related: the producer of the sound recording will be the person who arranges for the performers to perform, and will ensure that the performers give all the necessary permissions in their contracts to enable the sound recording to be exploited (see Figure 5.1).