Neighbouring Rights
The intellectual property rights granted to performers and producers of sound recordings — separate from and additional to the rights held by the song's composer and lyricist.
What are Neighbouring Rights?
Neighbouring rights (also called related rights) sit alongside — but are distinct from — traditional music copyright. Where copyright protects the musical composition (melody and lyrics, owned by the songwriter and publisher), neighbouring rights protect the performance and production of a sound recording (owned by the performing artist and the record label or producer).
A single piece of music can therefore carry multiple layers of rights: the composer's copyright managed by a publisher, the performer's neighbouring right, and the producer's neighbouring right. Each must be considered separately when licensing music for commercial use.
Neighbouring Rights in the UK and EU
The UK and EU have strong neighbouring rights frameworks. In the UK these are embedded in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA). In the EU they are governed by Directive 2006/115/EC and the 2019 Copyright Directive. UK and EU rights holders receive equitable remuneration whenever their recordings are broadcast or publicly performed — collected by societies including PPL (for sound recordings) and PRS for Music (for compositions).
A brand playing music in a physical space — a retail store, restaurant, or event — typically needs two separate licences: one from PPL covering the recording, and one from PRS covering the composition. Holding only one is a licensing infringement even if the other is in place.
Neighbouring Rights and Social Media
The application of neighbouring rights to social media and brand content is an evolving area of law. When a brand uses a commercial recording in a video post without a licence, they may be infringing both the publisher's composition copyright and the performer's neighbouring right — meaning multiple rights holders may have independent claims against the same post.
Trakr's monitoring covers both composition and recording-level rights across social platforms, providing rights holders with structured evidence relevant to both copyright and neighbouring rights enforcement actions.
Related terms: Sync Licensing · Audio Fingerprinting · Content ID · ISRC · ISWC
