performing right

Permission to perform copyright musical or dramatic works in public; this is subject to licence and the collection of fees. The first performing right society was established in 1851 in France. In the UK the Copyright Act 1842 was the first to encompass musical compositions. The agent for live performances is the Performing Right Society, founded in 1914; the rights for recorded or broadcast performance are administered by the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society, founded in 1924.

Italy introduced a performing-right society in 1882, Germany in 1915. The US organizations are ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) and BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated). National societies now collect on behalf of other countries as well as for their own members.