Changes and Implications of the Rights of Music Performers in France: Focusing on Transmission Rights and Remuneration

Abstract

This study examined how the legal rights of French music performers have changed, especially in the recent series of legal and institutional innovations related to the French music industry, and what their implications are. French performers formed two groups in the 1950s and have been negotiating with record producers to protect and strengthen their rights. In France, the legal status of performers was established when neighboring rights were recognized in 1985. With the passage of the EU Copyright Directive in 2019, a legal order was enacted to reflect this directive in French domestic law in 2021. Based on this order, music performers in France were promised unprecedented minimum remuneration from streaming. It was also guaranteed the right to request transparent information disclosure from users and the right to request additional remuneration after transfer. The implications of this study are as follows. French performers have strengthened their rights to this day through collective solidarity. This is the background of improved amendments to performance rights in the European Union guidelines or French copyright law. The remuneration is an absolutely important part of the income of French music performers. In other words, the right to claim remuneration is making a substantial contribution to performers with relatively weak rights. In a highly digital society, the right to transmission has become the most important exclusive right. The fee rate for music performers’ transmission rights has long remained at the lowest level. The French agreement reached in 2022 dramatically improved the unfairness of streaming fees for music performers.