This book explores whether global music copyright law and the performers’ rights regime (PRR) have been able to improve the economic position of artists, as they were originally intended to. The author investigates whether this regime effectively addresses contemporary issues regarding royalty payments and cover songs in Sri Lankan music, drawing on the empirical findings of a case study she conducted on the Sinhala music industry. She finds that the PRR developed internationally and implemented in Sri Lanka is predicated on a particular view of the role of performers and their relationships with other actors in the music industry; although this view can be found in the USA, UK and India, it does not seem to reflect the established practices and relationships within Sri Lanka’s contemporary music industry. While providing a socio-historical and legal analysis of these differing industrial settings and investigating the manner in which they impact the PRR’s (in)ability to deliver improved economic security for Sinhala singers, the book also offers policymakers recommendations on how to supplement current national copyright law and the PRR in order to provide a secure economic position for music artists in Sri Lanka.

The second edition builds on the analysis of the 1988 Act, by considering the significant and ongoing impact of the European Union on the question of performers' rights. It contains analysis of the implementation of the Directives developed from the Copyright and the Challenge of Technology Green Paper. Particular attention is paid to the Rental and Lending Rights Directive, which was implemented in the United Kingdom at the end of 1996. Performers' Rights also discusses future European Union initiatives and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. It remains the only text exclusively devoted to the subject of performers' rights. The practical and comprehensive approach, which looks at those weapons available to litigants and the implications of drafting performers' contracts, makes this a vital source of information. All legal advisers to the entertainment industry, and lawyers dealing with copyright in general, will find this book a valuable asset.

With the development of technology such as films,sound recordings and the Internet, performers have lost control over the exploitation of their performances. The perceived need to protect performers on an international basis - that is, in states in which they are foreigners – has led to provisions being included in three international instruments (the Rome Convention (1961), TRIPS (1994), and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (1996)) that together form an international system of performers' rights. The scope of performers' rights protection is a contentious issue at the international level. The WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty nearly foundered on the issue of the level of protection to be granted to performers whose performances are exploited in films, videos and other audiovisual media; and a Diplomatic Conference held in Geneva in December 2000 failed to reach agreement on the terms of an international instrument protecting such performers. This is the first book in English to provide a comparative analysis of the protection afforded to performers in the international instruments. Although the focus is on establishing whether the international instruments provide an appropriate system of protection, attention is given to the key underlying issues: from whom or from what do performers need protection; can protection for performers be justified; what is a performance? Where appropriate, examples of domestic legislation and cases are drawn from the UK and other common law jurisdictions. This book will be of value to practitioners, academics and to government officials interested in determining the future shape of domestic law. It will also provide interesting and valuable assistance to officials in performers' and producers' unions and guilds.