Related Rights
The rights of the performer are recognized if:
- the performer is a citizen of the Republic of Belarus;
- the performance took place in the territory of the Republic of Belarus for the first time;
- the performance is a phonogram recorded;
- the performance not recorded on a phonogram shall be included in a broadcast or cable transmission;
- in other cases stipulated by international treaties of the Republic of Belarus.
The rights of the phonogram producer are recognized to him if:
- the phonogram producer is a citizen or a legal entity of the Republic of Belarus;
- the phonogram has been published for the first time in the territory of the Republic of Belarus;
- in other cases stipulated by international treaties of the Republic of Belarus.
Related rights apply to performances, phonograms, and broadcasts of broadcasting or cablecasting organizations.
Performances include performances by performing artists and conductors, and productions by stage directors.
No formalities are required for the emergence and perform of related rights.
Related rights subjects are performers, phonogram producers, broadcasting or cablecasting organizations.
The performer shall exercise his rights under the condition that the rights of the author of the performed work are observed.
The phonogram producer, broadcasting or cablecasting organization shall exercise the rights belonging to them to the extent of the rights received under the agreements with the performer and the author of the recorded or broadcasted work.
Where there is no evidence to the contrary, the person named as the performer or producer of the phonogram on each copy of the phonogram shall be considered to be the producer or producer of the phonogram.
The performer or producer of the phonogram, or any other holder of the performance or phonogram rights shall be entitled, at his own discretion, to use the symbol of protection of related rights which shall be placed on each copy of the phonogram, consisting of three elements:
- Latin letter "P" in a circle;
- the name of the right holder;
- the year of first publication of the phonogram.
The performer has personal non-property rights in relation to his performance:
- The right of authorship in relation to the performance, that is, the right to be recognized as the performer;
- The right to a name, i.e. the right to use or authorize the use of the performance under the performer's real name, a fictitious name (pseudonym) or without a name (anonymously);
- The right to inviolability of the performance, i.e. the right indicating that any changes, cuts and additions in the performance are not allowed without the performer's consent, except for the cases provided for by the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Copyright and Related Rights". The performer has the right to object to any distortion or other changes to his performance which can harm his reputation.
Personal non-property rights belong to the performer, regardless of the exclusive right to perform and remain with him in the case of transition (transfer) of the exclusive right to another person.
Non-property rights of the performer are inalienable and non-transferable. Any agreements aimed at waiver of the performer's moral rights are null and void.
The performer or other right holder shall have the exclusive right to the performance.
The exclusive right to perform means the right of the performer or other right holder to use the performance at their own discretion in any form or manner. At the same time, the performer or other right holder has the right to authorize or prohibit others from using the performance.
The use of the performance will be deemed to include:
- The recording of the performance;
- Reproduction of the performance recording;
- Distribution of the performance recording by sale or other transfer of ownership. If the performance recording was made with the permission of the performer or the copies of the performance recording were legally introduced into civil turnover in the Republic of Belarus by means of their sale or any other transfer of ownership, their further distribution in the Republic of Belarus is permitted without the consent of the performer or any other owner of copyright and without payment of remuneration;
- Rental of the original or copies of the performance recording;
- Public performance of the performance recording, as well as public performance of the stage director's production or a recording thereof;
- Broadcasting of the performance or a recording thereof;
- Transmission of the performance or a recording thereof by cable;
- Other communication of the performance to the public;
- Other possible uses of the performance.
The exclusive right of performance shall be waived in relation to reproduction, broadcast or cablecast and public performance of the performance recording in the event that such recording was made with the consent of the performer and the reproduction, broadcast or cablecast or public performance thereof is for the same purpose for which the performer's consent was obtained in recording the performance.
The signing of an agreement for performance in an audiovisual work between the performer and the producer of the audiovisual work shall entail granting by the performer to the producer of the audiovisual work of the exclusive right to use the performance in the audiovisual work, unless provided otherwise in the agreement.
Granting of such right by the performer shall be limited to the use of the audiovisual work and, unless provided otherwise in the agreement, shall not include the rights to separate use of sounds or images incorporated in the audiovisual work.
The performer (heirs of the performer) shall be entitled to remuneration for each way of use of the performance by the third parties, except in cases provided for in Chapter 4 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Copyright and Related Rights" and (or) in the agreement. The amount of remuneration paid to the performer (heirs of the performer) for the use of the performance may not be lower than the amount established by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus.
Joint performance related rights belong jointly to the members of the group of performers who participated in its creation, including the director of the performance, the conductor, and the performers, regardless of whether such performance forms an inseparable whole or consists of elements, each of which has an independent value.
Related rights to a joint performance shall be exercised by the leader of the group of performers or, in his absence, jointly by the members of the group of performers, unless provided otherwise in the agreement between them.
Where a joint performance forms an inseparable whole, no member of the team may, without sufficient reason, prohibit the other members of the team from using that performance.
An element of a joint performance which may be used independently of the other elements, that is, an element which has a separate meaning, may be used by the performer who created it at his own discretion, unless provided otherwise in the agreement between the members of the group of performers.
Each of the members of a collective of performers shall have the right to independently take measures to protect their related rights to a joint performance, including in cases where such performance forms an inseparable whole.
The rights to service performance, including joint service performance, are applied by analogy with the provisions of Article 17 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Copyright and Related Rights”.
Service performance is a performance carried out on the instructions of the employer or in the manner of fulfilling the obligations stipulated by the employment agreement.
The exclusive right to an service performance from the moment of its creation passes to the employer, unless provided otherwise in the agreement between him and the performer.
In the cases stipulated in the agreement between the employer and the performer, if the exclusive right to an service performance belongs to the employer, the performer (the heirs of the performer) has the right to receive remuneration for the use of this performance.
If the employer within five years from the day when the exclusive right to an service performance was transferred to him does not start using this performance or does not transfer the exclusive right to this performance to another person, the exclusive right to an service performance passes to the performer, unless provided otherwise in the agreement between employer and performer.
After the dissolution of the legal entity by liquidation - the employer, as well as in the event of the death of the individual - the employer, in the absence of heirs, the exclusive right to an service performance automatically passes to his performer, in the event of the death of the performer - to his heirs in the manner established by the legislative acts of the Republic of Belarus.
The performer of the service performance is not entitled to prevent the employer from making it public, as well as to exercise his right of withdrawal.
The employer, who has the exclusive right to an service performance, has the right, when using the service performance, to indicate his name or title or to require their indication.
The employer, who has the exclusive right to an service performance, has the right to make changes, reductions and additions to it, caused by the need to adapt the performance to the specific conditions of its use, without obtaining consent of the performer of the service performance, unless provided otherwise in the agreement between the employer and the performer. In this case, the employer is obliged to indicate in performance about the adaptation carried out by him.
The producer of the phonogram or other right holder shall own the exclusive right to the phonogram.
The exclusive right to a phonogram means the right of the producer of the phonogram or other right holder to use the phonogram at his own discretion in any form and by any means. At the same time, the producer of the phonogram or other right holder has the right to permit or prohibit other persons from using the phonogram.
The following types are recognized as the use of a phonogram:
- playback of a phonogram;
- distribution of the original or copies of the phonogram through sale or other transfer of ownership. If copies of a lawfully published phonogram are introduced into civil circulation in the territory of the Republic of Belarus with the permission of the phonogram producer or other right holder through their sale or other transfer of ownership, then their further distribution in the territory of the Republic of Belarus is allowed without the consent of the phonogram producer or other right holder and without payment of remuneration to them;
- import of copies of a phonogram, including copies made with the permission of the producer of the phonogram or other right holder;
- rental of the original or copies of the phonogram;
- public performance of a phonogram;
- transmission of a phonogram on air;
- phonogram transmission by cable;
- communication of the phonogram to the public;
- phonogram modification;
- other possible ways of using the phonogram.
The producer of a phonogram or other right holder has the right to receive remuneration for each method of using the phonogram by the third parties, except for the cases provided for by Chapter 4 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Copyright and Related Rights” and (or) the agreement. The amount of remuneration paid to the producer of a phonogram or other right holder for the use of a phonogram cannot be lower than the amount established by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus.
The broadcasting or cablecasting organization or other rights holder has the exclusive right to the transfer.
The exclusive right to the program means the right of the broadcasting or cablecasting organization or other right holder to use the program at their own discretion in any form and in any manner. At the same time, the broadcasting or cablecasting organization or other rights holder has the right to allow or prohibit others to use the program.
The use of the program is defined as:
- recording of a program;
- reproduction of a recording of a broadcast;
- distribution of a recording of a broadcast or copies of a recording of a broadcast by sale or other transfer of ownership. If copies of a legally published recording of a program are put into civil circulation in the territory of the Republic of Belarus by sale or other transfer of ownership by the broadcasting or cablecasting or other right holder, then their further distribution in the territory of the Republic of Belarus is permitted without the consent of the broadcasting or cablecasting or other right holder and without payment of compensation to them;
- rental of copies of the program recording;
- public performance of the program in places with paid admission;
- broadcasting or transmission by other broadcasting or cablecasting organization;
- communication of the program to the public;
- other possible uses of the program.
The exclusive right to a broadcast or cablecasting organization's transmission does not apply if:
- the recording of the program was made with the consent of the broadcasting or cablecasting organization;
- reproduction of the program recording is carried out for the same purposes for which it was recorded, in accordance with the restrictions stipulated by the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Copyright and Related Rights".
The broadcasting or cablecasting organization or other rights holder is entitled to remuneration for each way of using the program by the third parties, except in cases stipulated by Chapter 4 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Copyright and Related Rights" and (or) the agreement. The amount of remuneration paid to the broadcasting or cablecasting organization or other rights holder for the use of the program cannot be lower than the amount established by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus.
The performer's moral rights are protected indefinitely.
The exclusive right to the performance shall be effective for fifty years from the date of the performance, or the first recording of the performance, or the first broadcasting or cablecasting of the performance, or any other means of communication to the public.
The exclusive right in a phonogram shall be effective for fifty years from the first publication of the phonogram or for fifty years following the first recording if the phonogram is not published during that period.
The exclusive right of transmission to a broadcasting or cablecasting organization shall be effective for fifty years from the making of the broadcast or from the making of the cablecast, respectively.
The calculation of the abovementioned terms starts from January 1 of the year following the year in which the legal fact took place which is the basis for the beginning of the relevant term took place.
The expiry of the exclusive right to objects of related rights means the transfer of these objects into the public domain.
The objects of related rights, which have never been protected in the territory of the Republic of Belarus, are also considered to have passed into public domain.
The objects of related rights transferred to the public domain may be freely used by any individual or legal entity without payment of remuneration. In this case, the personal non-property rights of the performers must be respected.
The exclusive right to objects of related rights passes by inheritance or by way of other legal succession, unless provided otherwise by the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Copyright and Related Rights".
Protection of personal non-property rights of performers after their death is carried out for an unlimited period by their heirs or executors of the will, and in their absence - by the authorized republican state body that conducts state policy and implements the function of state regulation in the field of protection of rights to objects of intellectual property.
