Copyright Act 1994

Performers' rights - Miscellaneous provisions - Licences

194K: Exercise of concurrent rights

You could also call this:

"What happens when you share performer rights with someone else"

You have rights as a performer. If someone breaks these rights, you can take them to court. You might share these rights with someone else, like a licensee. If you do, you usually need to include them in the court case. When the court decides how much money to award, it looks at your licence and any other money you or the licensee have already got. The court makes sure you do not get too much money. It can also split any profits between you and the licensee in a way that seems fair. If you want to apply for a special order, you need to tell the licensee first. The court can then make a decision that takes into account your licence. A licensee is someone who has an exclusive licence to use your performer's rights.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS152060.

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

Topics:

Arts and culture > Arts fundingArts and culture > Heritage protectionMoney and consumer rights > Consumer protectionCrime and justice > Courts and legal helpBusiness > Intellectual propertyBusiness > Industry rules

194J: Rights and remedies of exclusive licensee, or

"What happens if someone breaks the rules of your exclusive licence"

195: Consent and waiver, or

"Agreeing to let someone use your work"

Part 9Performers' rights
Miscellaneous provisions: Licences

194KExercise of concurrent rights

This section applies if—
proceedings for infringement of a performer’s rights are brought by the performer or a licensee; and
those proceedings relate (wholly or partly) to an infringement in respect of which the performer and the licensee have concurrent rights of action.

The performer or, as the case may be, the licensee may not, without the leave of the court, proceed with the proceedings unless the other is either joined as a plaintiff or added as a defendant.
A performer or licensee who is joined as a plaintiff or added as a defendant under subsection (2) is not liable for any costs in the proceedings unless that person takes part in the proceedings.
Subsections (2) and (3) do not affect the granting of interlocutory relief on an application by a performer or licensee alone.
Whether or not the performer and the licensee are both parties to proceedings for infringement of a performer’s rights that relate (wholly or partly) to an infringement in respect of which they have or had concurrent rights of action,—
the court must, in assessing damages, take into account—
1. the terms of the licence; and
2. any pecuniary remedy already awarded or available to either the performer or the licensee in respect of the infringement; and
no account of profits may be directed if an award of damages has been made, or an account of profits has been directed, in favour of either the performer or the licensee in respect of the infringement; and
the court must, if an account of profits is directed, apportion the profits between the performer and the licensee in the manner that the court considers just, subject to any agreement between them.

The performer must notify any licensee who has concurrent rights before applying for an order under section 199, and the court may on the application of the licensee make any order under that section that it thinks fit, having regard to the terms of the licence.
In this section, licensee means a licensee under an exclusive performer’s rights licence.

Notes

Section 194K: inserted, on 30 December 2018, by section 29 of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Amendment Act 2018 (2016 No 90).