Explanatory note

Section 180 of Part II of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (rights in performances) confers rights on performers and persons having recording rights. A performance is a qualifying performance for the purposes of Part II of the Act if it is given by a qualifying individual or takes place in a qualifying country. In Part II of the Act “qualifying country” means the United Kingdom, another member State of the European Community, or, to the extent that an Order under section 208 so provides, a country designated under that section as enjoying reciprocal protection.

The Performances (Reciprocal Protection) (Convention Countries) Order 1995 (S.I. 1995/2990) designated certain countries, which are parties to the International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations (the Rome Convention) (Cmnd. 2425), as enjoying reciprocal protection under Part II of the Act.

Canada, Cape Verde, Lebanon, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Saint Lucia, Slovenia and Venezuela have become parties to the Rome Convention since the making of the 1995 Order. This Order revokes and replaces the 1995 Order to include those countries in the list of designated countries.

The 1995 Order also designated certain countries, which are parties to the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation (Cm. 2556–59, 2561–69, 2571–74) including the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, as enjoying the more limited reciprocal obligations in respect of rights in performances arising therefrom.

Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gambia, Grenada, Haiti, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Madagascar, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Solomon Islands and United Arab Emirates have become parties to the WTO Agreement since the making of the 1995 Order. This Order revokes and replaces the 1995 Order to include those countries in the list of designated countries.