Performers’ rights regime in the Sri Lankan music industry: ten years on

Ten years since the transplantation of the Performers’ Rights Regime (PRR) in Sri Lanka, the much-anticipated and perceived solution for its local vocalists’ issues, this paper attempts to reflect on the impact this particular intellectual property right made on the wider Sri Lankan music industry.

Historically, the Sri Lankan singer was monetarily appreciated and socially recognised along with a song but not the lyricist nor the composer. However the introduction of western proprietary rights to Sri Lanka, which recognised the lyricist and the composer having superior rights to those of the performer, disturbed this hierarchy of the customary industrial practice. PRR being a subsidiary right to copyright, introduction of this regime in Sri Lanka appeared challenging in a musical industry where authors were financially subsidiary to singers.

Relying on empirical research findings, this paper examines whether the PRR has resolved the issues faced by the local musical artists, created new ones or given rise to multiple effects in this particular music industry. Accordingly, a close examination of the relationship between the law and the music industry in Sri Lanka will be carried out through the lens of diffusion of law, borrowing from William Twinning, to provide a better understanding of the effects of PRR in the Sri Lankan context.

It is expected that diffusion of law will provide a wider path in understanding the effects of the PRR beyond the mere success or the failure of its transplantation.