THE BEIJING TREATY ON AUDIOVISUAL PERFORMANCE ENTERS INTO FORCE

The Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances (Treaty) was adopted by the Diplomatic Conference on the Protection of Audiovisual Performances held in Beijing from 20 to 26 June 2012. The Treaty must enter into force three months after its ratification or accession by 30 eligible parties, and since it has been ratified by Indonesia as the 30th party on 28 January 2020, it will enter into force on 28 April 2020. Hungary and the EU had already signed the Treaty, however, it has not been ratified by the EU until now.

The Treaty regulates the protection of actors, singers, musicians, dancers in the digital era and ensures for the performers the following four types of economic rights for their performances fixed in audiovisual fixations: right of reproduction, right of distribution, right of rental and the right of making available. In case of unfixed (live) performances, the performers have three kind of economic rights based on the Treaty: the right of broadcasting, the right of communication to the public and the right of fixation. Under the Treaty, the performers must also have moral rights, e.g. the right to claim to be identified as the performer of his performances, except where omission is dictated by the manner of the use of the performance, or the right to object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification of his performances that would be prejudicial to his reputation, taking into account of the nature of audiovisual fixations.

The term of protection of performers under the Treaty must last at least 50 years calculated from the end of the year in which the performance was fixed.