The Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act of 1995 (DPRA) is a United States Copyright law that grants owners of a copyright in sound recordings an exclusive right “to

perform PerForm and PerForm PRO were electronic form programs, initially designed to work under GEM in DOS. Later versions were designed to work in Windows 3.1, at which point it was succeeded by FormFlow. The initial version of PerForm was created in 1 ...

the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.”17 U.S.C. § 106(6) The DPRA was enacted in response to the absence of a performance right for sound recordings in the

Copyright Act of 1976 The Copyright Act of 1976 is a United States copyright law and remains the primary basis of copyright law in the United States, as amended by several later enacted copyright provisions. The Act spells out the basic rights of copyright holders, cod ...

and a fear that digital technology would stand in for sales of physical records. The performance right for sound recordings under the DPRA is limited to transmissions over a digital transmission, so it is not as expansive as the performance right for other types of copyrighted works. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), enacted in 1998, modified the DPRA.

Three-tier System

The DPRA categorizes services under three tiers, based on the service’s potential impact on record sales. First, non-subscription broadcast transmissions are exempt from requirements to pay license fees. Second, non-interactive Internet transmissions are required to pay a

statutory license A compulsory license provides that the owner of a patent or copyright licenses the use of their rights against payment either set by law or determined through some form of adjudication or arbitration. In essence, under a compulsory license, an ...

established by the Copyright Board. Third, Interactive Internet transmission services are required to negotiate a license agreement with the copyright holder. The DMCA modified the requirement and framework for the statutory license.

Criticism

While the DPRA expanded the sound recording’s performance right, performers have still criticized the DPRA’s comparative inequity because composers still have a much wider performance right than performers. Broadcast services have criticized the DPRA’s burden on

webcast A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, web ...

ers, since the three-tiered system places a higher burden on the interactive Internet transmission services. Both sides have criticized the convoluted structure of the DPRA.

Three-tier System

Criticism

References