Background Music to Stop Being Free: the “Right of Public Performance and Communication of Recordings” under the Copyright Act

1. Introduction

Think twice before turning on your sound system. That is the message to shop owners, restaurant proprietors, retail mall operators, art galleries, museums, sporting and event organizers and others in similar positions after new amendments to the Copyright Act of Japan (“New Amendments”) were passed on 17 June 2026 with a scheduled effective date of no later than three years from this date. Thus, the clock is ticking and those who operate stores, stadiums and other similar venues should prepare for what is to come.

These New Amendments create a new intellectual property right: the “right of performance and communication of recorded sound” (in Japanese, Rekōdo Ensō Dentatsu Ken) (“BGM Right”). More specifically, the BGM Right belongs to the performers and producers of sound recordings (such performers and producers collectively, “Sound Producers”) and enables them to charge secondary usage fees when the sound recordings are used in commercial settings, such as when music recorded on CDs or digitally distributed is used as background music (“BGM”) in stores, stadiums or other similar venues.

The impact of the BGM Right is therefore expected to be far-reaching.[1] However, as of the date of this article, many key issues remain unresolved. For example, it remains unclear as to:

  • How are users of sound recordings (i.e., store proprietors, venue owners, event organizers, etc.) to contact and co-ordinate with Sound Producers to obtain permission to use sound recordings?
  • How will the use of sound recordings be monitored and recorded in order to calculate usage fees?
  • How will usage fees for the use of sound recordings be collected and distributed?

These issues are explored in the second half of this article. First, we turn to the reasons for establishing the BGM Right and explain the text and structure of the New Amendments.

View original article here.

Authors: Masato Kumeuchi (Partner), Hana Sato, Yumi Tominaga

Endnotes

[1] Documents from the 3rd Meeting of the Policy Subcommittee of the Copyright Subcommittee of the Cultural Affairs Council; documents from the 4th Meeting of the Policy Subcommittee of the Copyright Subcommittee of the Cultural Affairs Council; “Market Survey on Record Performance and Communication Rights”by the Recording Industry Association of Japan and others; “Methods for Managing ‘Record Performance and Communication Rights’”by the Recording Industry Association of Japan and the Performers’ Neighbouring Rights Center of the Japan Federation of Performing Arts Organizations; and others.