Decree 765/2024 establishes important modifications in the field of Copyright

Decree 765/2024, signed by Javier Milei and published in the official gazette on August 27, introduced changes to key aspects of the regulations governing copyright, including, among its main new features, the redefinition of the concept of “public performance” of artistic works.

Public performance, in short, consists of any act that allows a plurality of people to access a work by means other than the distribution of copies to each of them. Thus, typically, the concept of public performance includes the projection of films in movie theaters, the broadcasting of music by radio, the public exhibition of works of art, the reproduction of music in public places, among several others. Thus, and in accordance with what is established by Argentine regulation, every time someone performs a public performance of a work protected by copyright, they must pay a fee to the artist through the corresponding Collective Management Society, for example, SADAIC in the case of music composers, which is then responsible for distributing the proceeds among its members.

The new Decree first modifies Article 33 of Decree 41.223/34, which regulates the Intellectual Property Law 11.723, establishing that “(…) there is no public representation or performance when it takes place in a private setting, whether permanent or temporary occupation.” This Article, which specifically deals with defining the concept of public performance, previously established that any act that was not carried out in an exclusively family home was considered a public performance, and, consequently, payment for said performance had to be made to the corresponding Collective Management Society.

This change in wording has major implications for the payment of fees to authors for the use of their works, since, according to the new wording, for example, hotels should not have to pay for the reproduction of musical or audiovisual works in their rooms, something they were previously obliged to do. On the other hand, there are already discussions as to whether this new exception also covers other areas, such as private parties. This will probably end up being the subject of judicial interpretation, due to the inexact wording of the Decree.

Government officials have argued in favour of this change that this new regulation will lower the costs of hotel and tourism activities, since the payment of these fees in some cases reached 10% of the cost of hotel services.

On the other hand, many entities such as AAID (Argentine Association of Interpreters) have expressed their opposition to this measure, arguing that it constitutes a violation of the intellectual property of authors, which is a constitutional guarantee.