חוק זכויות מבצעים ומשדרים (תיקון מס' 10), התשפ"ו–2026Performers' and Broadcasters' Rights (Amendment No. 10) Law, 2026 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

The amendment to the Performers' and Broadcasters' Rights Law, 1984, adapts the rights of performers in Israel to the modern era. Performers are those who perform a literary, artistic, dramatic, or musical work through acting, singing, playing music, dance, or otherwise, and performers' rights are rights separate from copyright. The amendment makes several significant changes to performers' rights relative to the existing law: First, the amendment to the Law provides that an exclusive right of making available to the public of their performances will be added to the basket of rights of performers. The exclusive right of making available to the public is the performer's right to prevent access being provided to a copy of his performance to the public, such that members of the public will have access to it from any place and at any time of their choosing. With the addition of this right, performers will be able to prevent their performance from being made available to the public without their consent, or to demand payment for making it available to the public, for example from platforms that enable content consumption on demand, known for example as Video on Demand (VOD). Second, under the existing law, performers do not have an exclusive right to prevent the playing or presentation of their performance in public – for example in event halls, restaurants, and the like (the right of "public performance") – but they do have the right to receive equitable remuneration for the public performance of their performance (the right to equitable remuneration). The remuneration is paid to the "representative remuneration organization" representing the largest number of performers and holders of performers' rights, and the organization transfers the remuneration to performers, whether or not they are members of it. The amendment to the Law establishes provisions regarding duties of equality and transparency that will apply to the said organization, both toward those who use performances and toward performers. In addition, the amendment to the Law provides that only a non-profit association or a public benefit company may serve as such an organization. Third, the amendment to the Law establishes limitations regarding the ability to transfer the right to equitable remuneration. As a rule, with respect to the performance of a musical work included on a record, it is provided that the performer's right to equitable remuneration is not transferable or waivable during the first seven years from the date of recording the performance. With respect to a performance included in a cinematographic work, it is provided that the performer is entitled to fair compensation for the transfer of his right to equitable remuneration or waiver thereof. Several exceptions have been established to these limitations. Among other things, it is provided that a performer may waive his right to equitable remuneration for a public performance made by a body such as a non-profit association, a public benefit organization, an educational institution, a library, an archive, or a museum, or may transfer his right to equitable remuneration to such a body. Fourth, the amendment to the Law seeks to ease the burden on small businesses, and provides that the playing or presentation in public of a performance by a micro-business owner is not included in the definition of "public performance," and therefore such a business owner will not be required to pay remuneration for this, unless a material part of his business is the playing or presentation in public of performances. A "micro-business owner" is defined for this purpose as a business owner whose annual transaction turnover does not exceed the amount set in the definition of "exempt dealer" in the Value Added Tax Law, 1975 (that is, approximately 120,000 NIS currently). In addition, the amendment to the Law provides that in a claim for infringement of the right to equitable remuneration, the court will only be authorized to award monetary relief, meaning the court will not be authorized to grant an injunction to stop the use. This is because the right granted to performers in this regard is a right to receive equitable remuneration, and from the outset they do not have the right to prevent the playing or presentation of the performance in public. The court will be authorized to award compensation without proof of damage in such a claim, but the amount of such compensation will be limited, such that instead of an amount of up to 100,000 NIS for each infringement, which the court may award under existing law (unless it involves a single course of conduct), the court will be able to award compensation in an amount not exceeding three times the annual tariff of the equitable remuneration or ten times the tariff of the equitable remuneration for a particular activity on a particular date, or 25,000 NIS, whichever is higher. If the rights holder believes that the value of the damage caused to him is higher, the way is of course open to him to prove his damage and ask the court to award him compensation for the damage actually caused to him. In addition, the amendment adopts the permitted uses set out in the Copyright Law, 2007, so that they will apply, with the necessary changes, also to performers' rights. Permitted uses are uses that can be made even without obtaining the consent of the rights holders and without payment of consideration to the rights holders, for purposes of public importance. Accordingly, it will be possible, for example, to make fair use of a performance, to use a performance in legal proceedings or in administrative proceedings under law, and the like, without the user being required to obtain the performer's consent for this or to pay remuneration for these uses. The amendment to the Law further provides that each year a budget will be allocated to support artists in distress, from the budget of the Ministry of Culture and Sport, and it will be used to support artists according to equal criteria to be published by the Minister of Culture and Sport on his ministry's website. The budget will amount to 2.5 million NIS in 2026, 5 million NIS in 2027, and 7 million NIS from 2028 onward and in each subsequent year. In addition, the amendment to the Law includes an indirect amendment to the Copyright Law, 2007, under which it is provided that the playing or presentation in public of a work by micro-business owners will not be included in the definition of "public performance" in the said law, and therefore such business owners will not be required to obtain consent for these actions or to pay remuneration for their performance. In addition, the indirect amendment to the Law expands the permitted use currently set out in the Copyright Law regarding the public performance of works during the educational activity of educational institutions, so that it will also apply to certain additional educational-social frameworks, such as clubs managed by local authorities, non-private after-school programs, and public summer camps, and even if the use is made by a person who is not an employee of the institution or educational framework or a student studying there, under the conditions set out in the amendment to the Law. The said permitted use will also apply to performers' rights. In addition, the amendment to the Law establishes an incentive for the collective management organizations in the field of copyright and performers' rights currently operating in the market, to establish a mechanism for joint collection of remuneration for public performance from users. This is in order to make the process of paying remuneration for the public performance of works and performances simpler for business owners, who currently are required to pay for such use to several different organizations, each of which represents different rights holders, and in order to save on the operating costs of the said remuneration collection mechanism. The amendment to the Law provides that an organization that does not join the joint collection within 18 months from 20 May 2027 (the effective date of the amendment to the Law) will not be entitled to request that the court award it compensation without proof of damage for infringement of the right to public performance. In addition, with respect to that organization, the exemption applicable to micro-business owners will be expanded so that the presentation or playing of a performance or work in public by a business owner whose annual transaction turnover does not exceed four times the amount set in the definition of "exempt dealer" in the Value Added Tax Law (that is, approximately 480,000 NIS currently) will not be considered "public performance," and therefore such a business owner will not be required to pay remuneration for public performance and will not be exposed to claims in this regard.

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