Rome Convention of 1961

The Rome Convention of 26 October 1961 is the international treaty that established the protection of performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting organisations. It is the origin of the category of related rights, enshrined in France by the Act of 3 July 1985. Jointly administered by WIPO, the International Labour Organization and UNESCO, it is open only to States that already protect copyright.

Beneficiaries and national treatment

The Convention rests on the principle of national treatment, each State granting performers, producers and broadcasting organisations from the other contracting States the protection it grants to its own nationals, according to the points of attachment it defines. It also lays down a minimum content of protection. Performers must be able to prevent the broadcasting, fixation and reproduction of their live performance without their consent. Producers have the right to authorise or prohibit the direct or indirect reproduction of their phonograms. Broadcasting organisations may prohibit the rebroadcasting, fixation and reproduction of their broadcasts, as well as their communication to the public in places accessible against payment of an entrance fee.

Equitable remuneration and reservations

The Convention provides that a single equitable remuneration is paid by the user to the performers or to the producers, or to both, where a phonogram published for commercial purposes is used directly for broadcasting or for any communication to the public. This provision is the origin of the French statutory licence. States may, however, enter reservations so as not to apply it or to limit its scope, which explains the absence of full reciprocity and the differences in the treatment of foreign phonograms. The minimum term of protection is twenty years from the fixation, the performance or the broadcast, national laws going well beyond that.

The place of the Convention in contemporary law

The Rome Convention remains the reference text for broadcasting organisations, which are covered neither by the WPPT nor by the Beijing Treaty. For performers and phonogram producers, the WIPO treaties of 1996 extended protection to the digital environment and added a moral right. The TRIPS Agreement takes over the essence of its obligations and the EU directives translate its principles. The United States is not a party, which weighs on the remuneration of American performers in Europe and of European performers in the United States.

Key points

The Rome Convention of 1961 founds the international protection of performers, phonogram producers and broadcasters through national treatment and a floor of minimum rights, including equitable remuneration for the use of commercial phonograms. Its minimum term of twenty years is widely exceeded by national laws. Before claiming remuneration for a foreign phonogram, check that the State of origin is a party to the Convention and whether it has entered reservations.

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This glossary entry is general in scope and does not constitute legal advice.

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