The grant of copyright can provide the performer some measure of control over how and when his or her work is used. Moral rights legislation ensures attribution and prevents false attribution and derogatory treatment of the work for example making significant changes without the performer&rsquos consent. There have been modifications to copyright law benefiting performers in relation to sound recordings but it is questionable whether the numerous international conventions, bilateral agreements, multilateral agreements and domestic laws have adequately addressed the rights that should be afforded to audiovisual performers in the new digital era.

Performers&rsquo rights have come in to existence in Australia through a process of development and ratification of international treaties. Australian copyright law was formally introduced in the early part of the 20th Century1 and was based on the British Statute of Anne 1709. The 1959 Spicer Committee Report was the…

Source: http://www.artslaw.com.au/artlaw/archive/2007/07RightsForAudioVisualPerformers.asp