The intellectual property rights in a musical work exist from the time it is created, and also at the time it is commercially exploited. No matter how the musical work is exploited (whether it is performed, reproduced, displayed, or distributed on the Internet), the right holders in the musical work may be owed a royalty.

Some important rights in a music work are categorised under "performance rights", which include the rights owned by actors, singers, musicians, dancers and other persons who recite, chant, play or perform, in any way, the literary, artistic, musical, or audiovisual works that are protected under the copyright laws of the given country.

The copyright laws in most jurisdictions provide that copyrighted music cannot be publicly performed without the prior approval of the copyright holders. Approval will generally be granted in return for the payment of royalties. Such royalties are commonly collected through a "performing rights society", which is a form of "collective management organisation", which usually obtains its mandate under the national and international copyright laws.

The increasing use of music in commercial activities means that the legal regime for performing rights societies in the UAE is often at issue and this is the focus of this article.

Performing Rights Societies: The UAE Law

Article 2 of the Federal Law No. 7 of 2002 Concerning Copyrights & Neighboring Rights ("CL 7/2002"), among other things affords protection to rights in musical works (or sound recordings), audiovisual works, etc., and identifies performers,¹ phonogram producers,² and broadcasting organisations³ as owners of specific rights in such works. Collectively these performers, phonogram producers and broadcasting organisations are also called the "holder(s) of neighboring rights"4. The relevant excerpt from Article 2 of CL 7/2002 granting rights to holders of neighboring rights is set out below:

Authors of the works and the holders of the neighboring rights, shall enjoy the protection of this law in case that an aggression against their rights occurs in the State, namely in the following works:

- Dramatic, dramatico-musical works and pantomimes.

- Music compositions with or without words.

- Sound and audiovisual works.

The legal regime relating to collective management organisations/performing rights societies in the UAE is set out in articles 30 to 33 of CL 7/2002. These provisions state that:

  • The holders of the copyright and the neighboring rights may assign their economic rights to specialised professional societies to administer them, or authorise other bodies to practice these rights. The contracts concluded in this regard by such societies or bodies shall be considered civil contracts."5;
  • The societies or the bodies stipulated in article 30 of this Law undertake to make no preference among the applicants who wish to enter in contracts with them to exploit the works being under their administration. Granting financial discounts on licenses of exploitation by the society or the body shall not be considered as preference in the following two cases, provided that its decision be supported by reasons:

- Exploiting works in public events through the live performance of performers.

- Exploiting works within the framework of educational or cultural activities that do not generate direct or indirect revenue.6;

  • "The societies or the bodies who shall administer the rights of the author and the neighboring rights must not practice any activities before having an annual license from the Ministry, who may include any rules in the implementing regulation to arrange the functions of such societies and bodies and may enter any necessary amendment to the rules, systems, fees of licensing and their practices of work. The Council of Ministers shall issue a decision on the fees for granting licenses."7; and
  • "The societies and other bodies administering the copyrights and the neighboring rights undertake to hold registers including the names of their members, their positions and the jobs they contracted indicating the type of job, duration and the agreed amounts of money. They must inform the Ministry the same whenever there is a change in these registers. These societies and bodies must abide by the administrative decisions of the Ministry. The Ministry may withdraw the license in the event that these societies or bodies do not comply with the provisions of the law or implementing the administrative decisions."8

Furthermore, the Ministerial Decision No. 133 of 2004 (On Collective Management of Copyrights and Neighboring Rights) provides that

  • Societies or other bodies that wish to perform collective management for copyrights or neighboring rights shall abide by obtaining licences from the Ministry before starting this activity.
  • For obtaining the licence for collective management the following details and documents must be submitted:

- a copy of the statutes and the memorandum of association of the applicant for licence.

- a copy of the educational certificate and identity card of the responsible manager of the applicant for licence.

- specification of the ratio of national labour in the applicant body.

- a licence from the original country proving that the applicant for licence has performed activity in the field of collective management if the applicant for licence is a branch accredited by a legal person residing abroad.

- detailed numbers of the authors and the owners of the neighboring rights who concluded contracts with the legal person, who is the applicant – if any.

- a copy of the agreement between the legal person, authors and owners of neighboring rights – if any.

  • The legal person to whom the licence is issued must abide by the following:

- preparing the necessary records including names of persons, their titles, addresses, details, works, and the jobs they concluded contracts for, duration of contract, value,provided that they notify the ministry with any change in the details of these registers.

- keeping the agreement document concluded between the legal person and the users of the economic rights in which the charges of financial collections agreed upon, are specified.

- taking all administrative and legal procedures to protect the rights of the contracting parties.

- preparing the final accounts and distribution of interests among the contracting parties at lease one time during the year.

- allowing the contracting parties to review the final accounts and the method of interest distribution whenever they wish.

- preparing periodical reports to the owners of the rights explaining the bodies used their works and the amounts of money been collected.

- presentation of the information and documents mentioned in this decision to the ministry whenever he is requested.

  • The licence applicant, after providing relevant conditions for licence, shall be obliged to pay the due fees to perform the activity to the relevant authority at the Ministry, which shall be renewed annually following payment of due fees.
  • The ministry may withdraw the licence after it has been issued, in case the licensee did not abide by the law or the provisions of its implementing ministerial decisions.

Summing Up

Thus, it is evident from the above that collective management organisations (as and when established in the UAE):

  • must be licensed by the Ministry of Economy, and
  • must also comply with the reporting requirements under Ministerial Decision No. 133 of 2004 as highlighted above.

Further, a collective management organisation/performing rights society in the UAE will also be able to sue for infringement of rights (of its members) in a musical work as it will be empowered to take "all administrative and legal procedures to protect the rights of the contracting parties".9

Currently there is no collective management organisation operating in the UAE. This does not mean it is permitted to use a music right without the necessary licence from the right holder of the relevant musical work. Failure to obtain the permission to use a musical work may result in the right-holder bringing about a civil claim for infringement and damages.10

Footnotes

1 "Performers": The actors, singers, musicians, dancers and other persons who recite, chant, play or perform by any way literary or artistic works or others protected according to the provisions of this law or inclusive within the public property. (as per Article 1 of CL 7/2002)

2 "Producer of Phonogram": The natural or legal person who records for the first time sounds of a performer or other sounds. (as per Article 1 of CL 7/2002)

3 "Broadcasting Organization": Any authority practices sound, visual or audio-visual and wireless broadcasting transmission. (as per Article 1 of CL 7/2002)

4 As per Article 1 of CL 7/2002

5 Article 30 of CL 7/2002

6 Article 31 of CL 7/2002

7 Article 32 of CL 7/2002

8 Article 33 of CL 7/2002

9 However, it remains to be seen if such obligation may stand abridged in a situation where the contract between the collective management organisation and the right-holder expressly stipulates otherwise.

10 Article 37 of CL 7/2002

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.