The term 'neighboring rights' can be found in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Glossary, which can be understood as a right granted to protect the interests of performers, producers of phonograms, and broadcasting organizations relating to the activities of the public use of an author's work.

1. What are Neighboring Rights?
Copyright is that branch of Intellectual Property (IP) that protects and covers all
creations that are a culmination of the creative human mind, irrespective of what form or
merit they hold and the audience that consumes them. Copyright in creative works is
created automatically and immediately, and therefore, it does not require a formal
procedure to seek protection from a third party.
Additionally, copyright also vests in people who are not technically the authors of the
work created; instead, they are crucial supporters and participants who make the work
possible. These could include artists, producers of phonograms & others involved in
television, radio & broadcasting. In them, vest certain rights known as the neighboring
rights.
Cracking the Basics
The term 'neighboring rights' can be found in the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) Glossary, which can be understood as a right granted to protect
the interests of performers, producers of phonograms, and broadcasting organizations
relating to the activities of the public use of an author's work. Often the term 'related
rights' is also used to mean the same as neighboring rights. The notion of different
countries has varied in determining the scope of these rights.
These rights are not essentially the same as copyright, but they are based on works
protected by copyright. Most importantly, they offer the same exclusivity as copyright,
albeit they do not cover the actual work.

2. Categories of Neighboring Rights
Neighboring rights can be segregated into three different kinds of categories, which are
mentioned below:
 Performer Rights: These rights vest in performers, which include musicians and
actors. They protect their performances against any unauthorized and illicit
recording or transmission. The same also gives the power to exploit and guarantee
a certain degree of control over the exploitation and remunerations earned
whenever these recordings, including their performances, are commercially
exploited. It means that only when the performer's content has been legally

3. obtained can the work be communicated to the public; otherwise, it shall be a
violation of his neighboring rights.
 Broadcasting Rights: These rights are vested in a broadcasting organization,
including television, radio, or other telecasting providers. It means that where a
live performance is facilitated by a broadcaster, he has all the rights to authorize or
prohibit the use of the program. Hence, if the same program is recorded and put on
the internet for the public to see, it is a violation of the broadcaster's rights.
 Recording Rights: Similarly, by law, where a sound recording of someone has
been recorded with the prior consent of a performer, the performer's consent is
further required for any communication that is to be made to the public. Such
rights can be enforced by the legal representatives of the performer or artist after
his death.
What is the International Guiding Framework?
The Rome International Convention, also known as the International Convention for the
Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms, and Broadcasting Organizations,
specifies that performers have the right to oppose the broadcast, communication to the
public, fixing, or reproduction of their performances. The Convention is one of the most
crucial conventions on an international level, which was adopted way back in 1961. It is
jointly managed and directed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), and WIPO.
Apart from the Rome Convention, it is also a part of the TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement, 1994, which came into force on 1st
January 1995. The Rome Convention 1961 protects neighboring rights for up to 20 years

4. from the end of the year in which the performance, the recording, or the broadcast of the
work took place.
Other than the previously mentioned conventions, the WIPO Performance and
Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) and the Beijing Treaty on Audio-Visual Performance
(BTAP) also protect the performers, producers, and broadcasters in various ways that
may appear to be more extensive in nature. They offer protection of neighboring rights
for up to 50 years with an increased scope of protection of the rights of performers and
producers while expanding into the digital era with the protection extended to the
exploitation of protected works even over the internet.
Conclusion
It is imperative that the rights of each contributor in the creative ecology are sustained
and preserved to give the due weightage of labor. Also, it is pertinent that in such
preservation of rights, the freedom of information and access to knowledge are not
compromised and liquidated. Therefore, it is integral to recognize the contribution of all
artists related to the primary copyrighted work to incentivize further creation of art and
culture by protecting rights underlying sounds, images, or both.
Till now, because of WIPO, authors, performers, and phonogram producers have been
granted a broadly worded exclusive right of communication covering all the possible
aspects of neighboring rights. It is essential to imbibe such international standards in
national regimes to observe an expansion of such rights.