Intellectual Property
IPR Regulation and Policy
In addition to its labour component, each performance also constitutes a kind of immaterial property that is protected by international, regional and national laws at various lengths. The intellectual property rights of performers, also called “neighbouring” or “related” rights to mark their close vicinity to the copyrights of authors, have evolved with technological developments and are intended to protect the reputation and economic interest of performers, especially once the recordings of their performances set off for a life of their own. As such, these rights are a key economic asset and a dependable source of revenue for actors and other performers working in the gig economy.
We advise our members on how to extract maximum value from these rights through collective bargaining and other mechanisms and improve them within their national legal environment. We also monitor major developments at supranational level in this field, raising awareness among decision-makers about the needs and concerns of the performers we represent and advocating to strengthen international protections and their national implementation.
Privileged interlocutors for this area of work are the European Union, with IP regulation frequently affecting a sizeable part of our membership, but also the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), the norm-setting UN agency endeavouring to foster greater harmonisation of IP rules at global level and promoting cooperation among member States in this field to enhance their economic, social and cultural development. Occasionally, FIA also addresses policy measures formulated by other intergovernmental bodies, e.g. the Council of Europe, UNESCO or the ILO, where they impinge upon the IP rights of performers.
The WIPO Beijing Treaty
The Beijing Treaty outlines global standards acknowledging the right of audiovisual performers to be compensated fairly for the use of their creative contributions. It sets a landmark new global IP...
Explore Other Intellectual Property Topics
Fair Remuneration
FIA strongly feels that every performer deserves to ...
The WIPO Beijing Treaty
This treaty establishes a groundbreaking ...