Atlikėjo samprata intelektinės nuosavybės ir mokesčių bei valstybinio socialinio draudimo įstatymuose

Abstract

This article aims to analyse the concept of the performer in three different legal contexts: first, the concept of the performer in the field of intellectual property, second, the concept of the performer in the field of tax law, and third, the perception of the performer from the point of view of social insurance laws. Analysis of the performers’ concept in the legislation on intellectual property has shown that in the light of these acts the concept of “performer” has a broad sense. In the Law on Copyright the performer is perceived as every person who performs literary and artistic works. The only requirement for the performance to be protected is related to the fact that the performer has to perform literary or artistic work. Since the work is perceived in very broad sense, a big variety of acts related to entertainment and presentation are considered as subject matter of performances protection. The borderline between authors and performers is analysed in the article. Though the distinction between these two rights owners’ groups is not always evident (for example in the case of improvised performances) it has relevant legal outcome: the taxation of the performer’s and author’s income is governed by different rules, different social and health security contributions are applied to authors and to performers. The conclusion is made that the qualifying of actual subject matter of contractual relationship is essential for the correct choice of applicable tax and social insurance legal acts.