What is ZPAV?
ZPAV is the only in Poland collecting society for the rights of producers of phonograms and videograms. To operate as such, ZPAV needed to receive a relevant authorization from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage – it was first granted in 1995 and was then renewed in 1998 and 2003 due to the adopted amendments to the Law on Copyright and Related Rights.
The collective management of copyright and related rights enables the users of music – broadcasters, clubs, restaurants, shops, to use sound recordings without having to contact the individual artists, authors and producers. All that the users need to do, is to sign relevant agreements and make due payments to the societies representing authors, composers, artists and producers.
Who is a producer?
A producer is the person, who produced the phonogram/music videogram (financed, organized, published under his name/company).
Pursuant to Article 94 paragraph 3 of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights, it is presumed that the producer of a phonogram is the person under whose name (or business name) this phonogram was made. It is, therefore, not the subject responsible for the technical realization and fixation of the recording, but rather the subject that ordered and financed the making of the recording – in other words, the person or company who has the rights to the “master”. In most cases,the producer is a record company, i.e. commercial entity. However, also natural persons can act as producers, e.g. a performing artist or band, who make their own recording and approach a publisher or distributor with a finished product. In such situation it is crucial that one’s contribution to the production of the phonogram is documented.
Law on Copyright
and Related Rights Authorization of the Minister
of Culture
The rights of the producer:
The Producer is entitled to a remuneration for the broadcasting, public performance and re-broadcast of sound recordings (Article 94 paragraph 5 of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights)
without authorization from the producer you may broadcast (e.g. via radio and TV), perform publically (e.g. in a shop, bar, club) and re-broadcast (e.g. in a cable network) any recordinglegally introduced into the market. However the rightholderhas the right to claim proper remuneration for the use of his recordings, and this is being processed through a collecting society. The funds collected by ZPAV are distributed among the rightholders (producers), in proportion to how their repertoire is being used.
The Producer has exclusive rights to his recording in the field of reproduction, introduction into the market, lending and rental as well as making available to the public (Article 94 of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights)
you may not copy, introduce into the market, rent or lend, as well as make available to the public recordings without authorization from the producer of these recordings. This applies to recordings fixed on physical carriers as well as, for example, those in the internet. In general, ZPAV does not handle licensing in those fields of exploitation, where the law gives the producer exclusive rights.
