Performers’ legal right to share in the licensing income when recordings of their performances are played in public or broadcast applies to “qualifying performances”.
In this context, a “performance” generally includes all audible contributions to the recording (such as guitar or vocals). In addition, certain inaudible contributions (such as the contribution made by a conductor or studio producer) may also be treated as a performance, where the conductor/studio producer conducts or provides a similar musical direction to another performer’s live performance as it is being recorded.
When making a performer claim against PPL repertoire, performers are requested to select a role to identify their contribution to each recording. If you have performed more than one role on a recording then you can claim for each role separately.
Please note PPL will only pay a performer for one role on a recording, but other collective management organisations may pay for multiple roles which you perform – so if you are using PPL to collect your international royalties, it is important to claim for all of your roles on a recording.
View the full list of PPL performer roles
As noted above, the performance must also be a “qualifying performance”. In summary, under the relevant statutory rules, a performance can qualify in one of two ways:
- Based on the country of performance (i.e. where the performer gave the performance);
- Based on country of residence/citizenship of the performer at the time they gave the performance.
In each case, the test is whether the relevant country of performance or country of residence/citizenship, is classed as a “qualifying” country under UK law. The list of qualifying countries is updated from time to time. It covers all EU member states, plus many other countries, each of which the UK considers offers sufficient protection of performers’ rights.
Please see PPL’s Distribution Rules for further information on how PPL applies these statutory rules when making payments to members.