Our third recommendation is to treat performances incorporated into music videos as musical performances, not as cinematographic performances.
Currently, once a performer authorizes the incorporation of their performance into a cinematographic work, including a video, they give up their copyright.
For example, a performer whose performance is captured on video and is also audio-recorded may only exercise copyright or receive equitable remuneration when their sound performance is dissociated from the video. Yet a music video is a song with images. I don’t know anyone who watches a YouTube music video of a song on mute. That person is “watching” the song.
In such a case, depriving the artist of their rights is absurd. The international community recognized this in 2012, when it adopted the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances.
It is therefore imperative that Canada ratify that treaty and extend the exclusive and moral rights for performers in the sound recording industry to all performers.
However—and this is our fourth request—the definition of “sound recording” must also be changed so that songs used in movies or TV shows are also covered by equitable remuneration.
The definition of “sound recording” is problematic since it excludes soundtracks of cinematographic works broadcast at the same time as the film. In addition to being discriminatory, this deprives performers of significant revenues, since authors enjoy equivalent royalties in similar circumstances.
Fifth, it is necessary to find ways to compensate performers for the use of their performances on the Internet.
Quebec artists are well aware that the revenues from the streaming of their works are ridiculously low, even for their most popular songs.
First, revenues for non-interactive and semi-interactive webcasting are generated from a tariff set by the Copyright Board of Canada. The rate is almost 11 times lower than the one in effect in the United States.
Second, revenues for on-demand webcasts, such as Spotify or Apple Music, for example, are subject to contracts between artists and producers requiring the recovery of production costs before royalties are paid to the artists. Given the small sums generated by album sales and on-demand webcasting, performers are too often deprived of royalties from this commercial exploitation.