Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations
| Signed | 26 October 1961 |
|---|---|
| Location | Rome |
| Effective | 18 May 1964 |
| Condition | Ratification by Germany and three Principal Allied Powers |
| Signatories | 26 |
| Parties | 94[1] |
| Depositary | Secretary-General of the United Nations |
| Languages | English, French and Spanish (original) |
The Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations was accepted by members of BIRPI, the predecessor to the modern World Intellectual Property Organization, on 26 October 1961. The agreement extended copyright protection for the first time from the author of a work to the creators and owners of particular, physical manifestations of intellectual property, such as audiocassettes or videocassettes.
Nations drew up the Convention in response to new technologies like tape recorders that made the reproduction of sounds and images easier and cheaper than ever before. Whereas earlier copyright law, including international agreements like the 1886 Berne Convention, had been written to regulate the circulation of printed materials, the Rome Convention responded to the new circumstance of ideas variously represented in easily reproduced units by covering performers and producers of recordings under copyright:
- Performers (actors, singers, musicians, dancers and other persons who perform literary or artistic works) are protected against certain acts they have not consented to. Such acts are: the broadcasting and the communication to the public of their live performance; the fixation of their live performance; the reproduction of such a fixation if the original fixation was made without their consent or if the reproduction is made for purposes different from those for which they gave their consent.
- Producers of phonograms enjoy the right to authorise or prohibit the direct or indirect reproduction of their phonograms. Phonograms are defined in the Rome Convention as meaning any exclusively aural fixation of sounds of a performance or of other sounds. When a phonogram published for commercial purposes gives rise to secondary uses (such as broadcasting or communication to the public in any form), a single equitable remuneration must be paid by the user to the performers, or to the producers of phonograms, or to both; contracting States are free, however, not to apply this rule or to limit its application.
- Broadcasting organisations enjoy the right to authorise or prohibit certain acts, namely: the rebroadcasting of their broadcasts; the fixation of their broadcasts; the reproduction of such fixations; the communication to the public of their television broadcasts if such communication is made in places accessible to the public against payment of an entrance fee.
The Rome Convention allows the following exceptions in national laws to the above-mentioned rights:
- private use
- use of short excerpts in connection with the reporting of current events
- ephemeral fixation by a broadcasting organisation by means of its own facilities and for its own broadcasts
- use solely for the purpose of teaching or scientific research
- in any other cases—except for compulsory licenses that would be incompatible with the Berne Convention—where the national law provides exceptions to copyright in literary and artistic works.
Furthermore, once a performer has consented to the incorporation of his performance in a visual or audiovisual fixation, the provisions on performers' rights have no further application.
Summary of the Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations (1961)
The Rome Convention secures protection in performances for performers, in phonograms for producers of phonograms and in broadcasts for broadcasting organizations.
(1) Performers (actors, singers, musicians, dancers and those who perform literary or artistic works) are protected against certain acts to which they have not consented, such as the broadcasting and communication to the public of a live performance; the fixation of the live performance; the reproduction of the fixation if the original fixation was made without the performer's consent or if the reproduction was made for purposes different from those for which consent was given.
(2) Producers of phonograms have the right to authorize or prohibit the direct or indirect reproduction of their phonograms. In the Rome Convention, “phonograms” means any exclusively aural fixation of sounds of a performance or of other sounds. Where a phonogram published for commercial purposes gives rise to secondary uses (such as broadcasting or communication to the public in any form), a single equitable remuneration must be paid by the user to the performers, to the producers of the phonograms, or to both. Contracting States are free, however, not to apply this rule or to limit its application.
(3) Broadcasting organizations have the right to authorize or prohibit certain acts, namely the rebroadcasting of their broadcasts; the fixation of their broadcasts; the reproduction of such fixations; the communication to the public of their television broadcasts if such communication is made in places accessible to the public against payment of an entrance fee.
The Rome Convention allows for limitations and exceptions to the above-mentioned rights in national laws as regards private use, use of short excerpts in connection with reporting current events, ephemeral fixation by a broadcasting organization by means of its own facilities and for its own broadcasts, use solely for the purpose of teaching or scientific research and in any other cases where national law provides exceptions to copyright in literary and artistic works. Furthermore, once a performer has consented to the incorporation of a performance in a visual or audiovisual fixation, the provisions on performers' rights have no further application.
As to duration, protection must last at least until the end of a 20-year period computed from the end of the year in which (a) the fixation was made, for phonograms and for performances incorporated therein; (b) the performance took place, for performances not incorporated in phonograms; (c) the broadcast took place. However, national laws increasingly provide for a 50-year term of protection, at least for phonograms and performances.
WIPO is responsible, jointly with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), for the administration of the Rome Convention. These three organizations constitute the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Committee set up under the Convention consisting of the representatives of 12 Contracting States.
The Convention does not provide for the institution of a Union or budget. It establishes an Intergovernmental Committee composed of Contracting States that considers questions concerning the Convention [1].
This Convention is open to States party to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886) or to the Universal Copyright Convention. Instruments of ratification or accession must be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. States may make reservations with regard to the application of certain provisions.
[1] The TRIPS Agreement also contains provisions on the protection of related rights. These provisions are different, in several respects, from those contained in the Rome Convention and in the Geneva Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms (1971).
Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations
The Rome Convention secures protection in performances for performers, in phonograms for producers of phonograms and in broadcasts for broadcasting organizations. WIPO is responsible for the administration of the convention jointly with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Rome Convention provisions
The Rome Convention requires member countries to protect (a) the performances of performers, (b) the phonograms of producers of phonograms, and (c) the broadcasts of broadcasting organizations. However, once a performer has consented to the incorporation of her performance in a visual or audiovisual fixation, the provisions on performers’ rights have no further application.
The Rome Convention permits member countries to make exceptions and limitations to the rights of performers, producer of phonograms, and broadcasting organizations; one such permissible exceptions is the use of a work for the purpose of teaching or scientific research.
Membership in the Rome Convention is open to all countries that are members of the Berne Convention or the Universal Copyright Convention. Countries that accede to the treaty may make reservations with regard to the application of certain provisions. This has as a result that acceding countries can avoid the application of rules that would require important changes to their national laws.
The Rome Convention or The International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations is aimed at protecting the rights of performers, producers of sound recordings and broadcasters.
Canada became a member of the Rome Convention on June 4th, 1998 and similarly to both the Berne and UCC, the Rome convention sets out minimum standards that member countries can include in their domestic law. Those minimum standards include "...a renumeration right for performers and producers of sound recordings when their recordings are either performed in public or broadcast in countries that have joined the Rome Convention to the extent to which the other Rome Convention country provides that right." (p. 63).
Reference
Harris, L.E. (2014). Chapter 5: Canada and International Copyright Law. Canadian Copyright Law. 4th Edition. Wiley: Hoboken, New Jersey.
