Performers are a prominent group of artists that present literary and artistic works to the public. Sometimes a performer shows such a creativity and skill in his performance that attract the attention of  a lot of people in the world as they are ready to pay high expenses to watch the artists’ performances or buy their recorded version. Absence of effective laws and sanctions concerning the protection of performers, on one side, and industrial progress of recording, reproduction and distribution of recorded performance, on the other, causes profiteers to unlawfully record, reproduce and distribute these works and make huge profits ignoring and violating the performers’ rights . Rome Convention (1961), the first international convention specially adopted for the protection of related rights, in a negative way grants performers the right of preventing others from recording, reproduction and distribution of their works without their authorization.
WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (1996) has increased the protection of performers’ rights and identified economic rights such as exclusive rights of recording, reproduction, distribution and broadcasting of radio signals, as well as their moral rights such as paternity and integrity. In the few laws and regulations in Iran relating to literary and artistic property, performers’ rights have, to this day, not been considered. But new literary and artistic property law draft includes comprehensive regulations which if enacted could fill the gaps and bring Iranian law to harmony with international standards