What are copyright and related rights?

Copyright is the right of the creator to control his/her work and gain profit from it. It originates from the very act of creation. In the world of music copyright is the right of composers, text writers, and authors of musical arrangement and music publishers pertaining to the works controlled by the latter.

Related rights are the rights of producers of music audio and video recordings and of the music performers, which also have a significant role in the process of creating music. The copyright and related rights system has a leading role for the preservation and development of music talents, as well as for making music a successful business undertaking and hence – a major creative industry that generates economic growth and jobs.

What are the terms of protection for copyright and related rights?

The term of protection of copyright is set at 70 years from the death of the author. Currently, the term of protection of related rights of producers of recordings and performers in the EU, and therefore in Bulgaria, is set at 50 years, considered from the first audio/video recording for the producers and the first performance or publication of the recording containing the performance for the performers. This term is set at 120 years in some countries. In USA the term of protection of related rights is 95 years and this generates significant investments in their music industry. In order to increase the competitiveness of the European music industry on a large scale and better protection of the performers’ rights, the European Commission has initiated a legislative procedure for amendment of the acquis communautaire and for extension of this period to 70 years. This amendment has not been accomplished yet.

Shall I register or file somewhere my copyright or related rights and from what time does this have effect?

Copyright originates automatically and no specific certification of this fact, formal document or official registration is required. In case of a dispute, a party must prove to be the creator of the musical work, and all evidence, such as written documents, witnesses’ testimony, experts’ conclusions, recognized by the Civil Code of Procedure of the Republic of Bulgaria, are admissible. A music work needs not be fixed as an audio recording so as to cause the copyright to emerge. As the law stipulates, it is sufficient for it to be a creative product and to be expressed in any way whatsoever and in any material form. The aspect of making available the work to an unlimited number of people is also important. This may coincide with the creation of music, but this may also happen later and it depends on the creator’s will only. This moment is essential for the origination of the related rights of the performers, who often present the music work before an audience thus becoming rightholders. The term of protection of related rights of the music performers commences on the 1st January of the year following the date of the first performance or publication of the performance recording. Currently, the term of protection is set at 50 years.

As we have already mentioned above, the moment of demonstration of a musical work is important, as this is related to the disclosure of the work to an unlimited number of people by reproduction or distribution of copies of it, including by audio/video recording on a physical carrier or in a digital form. Each publication is also a kind of making available, but not the vice versa. The producer has a leading role in this case, as the producer organizes the first recording and provides the financing. The term of protection of related rights of the music producers commences on the 1st January of the year following the date of the recording, no matter if the recording has been legally published or just maid available in any other way. Currently, the term of protection is set at 50 years.

What do copyright and related rights guarantee?

As a set of legal provisions, copyright and related rights guarantee certain rights to the authors of creative works. The idea is that the law protects their ownership on their ideas and creative works, which have been materialized in any possible way, and allows them to control their works freely and without limitation. Copyright and related rights are a major component of the intellectual property rights system and as such they are considered a fundamental human right. This right is protected by the law in almost all countries of the world and there is a solid international and European legal framework to regulate it.

Enforcing copyright and related rights means that the creators receive a due remuneration for any kind of use of their works. No one has the right to copy, publish, perform, distribute or use in any way whatsoever any musical work and/or audio/video recording, without the permission of its creators. Remuneration is due for all and any type of use. The exceptions of this rule are just a few and clearly defined in the law. Copyright and related rights enforcement in the human society allows talented people to live from what they do, to continue to create and to contribute to the cultural diversity development. This is especially important for music, which accompanies man in his activity at any time during man’s life.

For whom are the copyright and related rights important?

These rights are important for many gifted people, but also for whole creative business sectors and creative industries, which have a major economic and social role for the development of human society.

When we speak about music, respecting copyright and related rights is important for music composers, text writers, arrangement authors and publishers, and related rights guarantee the income of producers of audio/video recordings, singers and musicians. All these people and their business models depend on the direct or indirect payment for their creative work.

Are copyright and related rights important for the economy and the society?

The intellectual property rights, including copyright and related rights, are important as intangible assets with a significant contribution to the GDP. The more developed a society, the more investments in innovations, ideas and creative projects and the larger and more competitive the share of intangible assets in the GDP. The music industry is amongst the leading copyright industries that are a major factor for the economic development and the social stability.

There are many industries or business initiatives that are related to the music creative sector, bringing together thousands of people and business entities, such as the production and sale of musical instruments, the wide range of the entertainment and advertising industries, as well as all business enterprises, whose successful business models are practically based, driven or enriched and supplemented by the use of music content. These are also the disco clubs, bars and night clubs, hotels and restaurants, stores and fitness centres and many other tourist places, commercial and public sites making use of the music.

Interest in music can foster the development in cultural tourism, stimulate music education, create new cultural communities and change the atmosphere or the living standards in a town or a region.

The striving for more and better music is what stimulates the rapid development of the broadband internet connection, having in mind the increased consumer demand for creative content online. Therefore, the intellectual property rights, including copyright and related rights, are important for each and every user and have a major impact on the life and activity of every member of the modern global society.

What is the role of music producers and why is it necessary to respect their rights?

The protection of related rights of producers of audio/video recordings provides guarantee for the reproduction and development of the music industry as a creative business. Their role of music industry driving force and of a factor that turns music into a competitive market product is invaluable. The producers are important because they invest considerable part of their incomes in discovering and developing new talents, as well as in financing, marketing, promoting and advertising new bands, performers and audio and/or video recordings, providing for their physical and online commercial distribution to the end users.

Is it important for music to respect copyright and related rights?

Unauthorized reproduction and distribution, irrespective of the way it happens - on physical carriers (optical discs, matrices or other forms of music content carriers), by cable or wireless broadcasting (radio or TV broadcasting), or in the global network (via FTP servers with illegal content or the p2p networks), or as an illegal public performance in public places, has a deeply negative impact on the development of music industry and the life of thousands of creators, musicians and performers. As a result of the mass illegal use of music,  creators and performers’ live and creations are in poor conditions, while producers that invest in new talents and bring music to the end users’ reach, have even less money and motivation to continue their work. More illegal use means less created music as a final result.

What is music piracy?

Music piracy is usually defined as deliberate infringement of copyright and related rights for commercial gain. It covers both physical piracy, e.g. unauthorized reproduction of optical discs and other carriers of music content, and internet piracy – unauthorized copying, exchange and distribution of music in digital form /e.g. mp3/ via various internet sites, e-mail, p2p networks or torrent trackers. Without even being involved in the creation of music, music pirates generate significant profit from the illegal use of protected music content, without paying taxes for their illegal income on many occasions, thus further damaging the society. In many cases representatives of the organized crime use this fast and easy way to generate profit at the expense of creators and the legal music business formats.

Unfortunately, the economic, social and moral effects of this infringement of the law in Bulgaria are often underestimated and there are many cases of social and institutional indifference to this criminal phenomenon. The inability of the law-enforcement authorities to tackle with the obvious, well-organized and diverse manifestations of piracy among cable operators, entertainment business investors, tourism and commercial network entities, and especially in the Internet, is really paradoxical.

What is public performance of music and who and how must pay the due remuneration for this?

Conforming to the law, public performance means public presentation of a musical work or its recording, at any publicly accessible place, and by any technical means possible.

Public performance of music is made in disco clubs, bars, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and other tourist and commercial sites, fitness halls and sports facilities, offices and many other public places. In this cases the right to remuneration of the authors (composers, text writers, arrangement authors, publishers) and of the holders of related rights (performers and producers of audio/video recordings) is explicitly regulated in the Bulgarian Law on Copyright and Related Rights.

This remuneration is due by the relevant tourist, commercial, and business sites, and is supposed to get collected and divided among the rightholders via the relevant collective management societies. Regarding the related rights of performers and producers of audio/video recordings in Bulgaria, a contract must be signed with PROPHON (www.prophon.bg). The rights of the authors are settled similarly by executing a contract with Musicautor (www.musicautor.org). Should the relevant business subjects use the music content without executing these due contracts, rightholders are entitled to refer to the competent authorities and request inspection and imposition of administrative penalties, such as fines, on the infringers. The due remuneration for public performance is paid regularly in Europe, accounting for some 70-80% of the portfolio of the collective management societies. Unfortunately, in Bulgaria the music users fail to respect the law and the state does not act effectively to remedy to this huge problem.

What is compensation remuneration and who and how must pay for it?

Compensation remunerations /levies/ have been introduced with the copyright law, aiming at compensating rightholders for missed profits and opportunities, and  damages occurred following the application of the so called limitations and exceptions to the copyright law related to free usage of music (e.g. the right of a personal copy and other limitations and  exceptions introduced). Such remuneration is due by the manufacturers and importers of copying and reprographic equipment and machines, as well as by the empty optical discs, and other empty carriers, and recording devices manufacturers. Legislative and enforcement deficit (e.g. the current text of art. 26 of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights) , and the poor state authorities’ will for adequate regulation of the respective business-to-business relations prevent this mechanism to operate efficiently, provided that in other countries this system was the first to get established and to provide significant profit for the music sector.

The compensation remunerations /levies/ shall be collected and distributed amongst the rightholders by the newly created society Copy BG.