Rights in Performances
Performers, whether actors, singers, musicians or dancers etc entertain via their audio or audio-visual live performances. Through a string of treaties, namely, the Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations 1961, the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty 1996 and the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances 2012, there is international consensus that when live performances are fixed or recorded in an audio-visual medium eg a DVD, the performers, alongside with the copyright owners of underlying works, should be entitled to some rights.
Performers have economic rights and moral rights in their audio or audio-visual performances. For economic interests, a performer can prohibit unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or communication over the internet of the performances. For personality interests, a performer has the right to be identified as the performer, if asserted, and a right to object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification of the performances that would be prejudicial to the performer's reputation.
In the entertainment industry in Hong Kong and elsewhere, cast rather than content could be king. Hong Kong performers and related institutions should take an interest in rights in performances, not just in terms of legal compliance, but also in managing their rights in live performances when fixed in any audio-visual medium and exported overseas.