Copyright Act 1994

Performers' rights - Performers’ property rights relating to sound recordings

174D: Consent required for issue of copies to public

You could also call this:

"People need your okay to share copies of your performances with the public."

You have rights as a performer. If someone issues a copy of your recording to the public without your consent, they infringe your rights. This includes the original recording or a substantial part of your performance. You are protected if someone brings a copy of your recording into New Zealand. The law has some exceptions, like if the copy was made in another country with the right person's consent, or if the rights had expired in that country.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS151866.

This page was last updated on 3 December 2025 — View changes

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174C: Consent required for copying of sound recording, or

"Get permission before copying a sound recording of someone's performance"

175: Incidental copying of performance or recording, or

"It's okay to accidentally copy a performance or recording, but not on purpose."

Part 9Performers' rights
Performers’ property rights relating to sound recordings

174DConsent required for issue of copies to public

A performer’s rights are infringed by a person who, without the performer’s consent, issues to the public a copy of a recording, including the original recording, of the whole or any substantial part of a performance.
Subsection (1) does not apply to a copy of a recording if the copy is imported into New Zealand and—
the copy was made in a foreign country with the consent of the person entitled, in that country, to exercise the property rights; or
no person was entitled, in the foreign country in which the copy was made, to exercise the property rights, and any of the following applies:
1. the property rights in that country had expired:
2. the person otherwise entitled, in that country, to exercise the property rights failed to take some step legally available to the person to secure, in that country, the property rights:
3. the copy was made in that country by or with the consent of the person entitled, in New Zealand, to exercise the performers’ property rights related to the performance.

In subsection (2) (other than paragraph (b)(iii)), property rights means intellectual property rights related to the performance that are equivalent to the performers’ property rights conferred by this subpart.

Notes

Section 174D: inserted, on 30 December 2018, by section 24 of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Amendment Act 2018 (2016 No 90).