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.
Producer’s rights
The Producer has exclusive rights to his recording in the field of reproduction, introduction into the market, lease 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 in writing from the producer of these recordings.
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 recording legally introduced into the market. However the rightholder has the right to claim proper remuneration for the use of his recordings, and this is being processed through a collecting society.
How to join in?
Submission of repertoire to ZPAV and information from broadcasters about the broadcast phonograms constitute the basis for calculating producer’s royalties, under relevant regulations on royalty distribution.
The most important step is to provide information about your rights to the following:
- produced recordings that have not been sold to anyone,
- recordings to which you acquired full rights,
- recordings to which you acquired various rights, including the right to remuneration for their use (performance rights).
A producer does not have to be a member of ZPAV to able to be eligible for royalties through the collective management organisation. However it is advisable to entrust one’s rights to ZPAV for collective management.
Information on registration and submission of repertoire can be found at:
