Eshkolot played a crucial role in the legislation of the Performer’s and Broadcasters’ Rights Law of 1984. This was the first step in Eshkolot’s long struggle on behalf of the Israeli performing artists.
As a result, Eshkolot had the right to collect royalties from radio and television stations in Israel.
In April 1996, we won another significant achievement with the legislative amendments that anchored in law the right of performers to receive appropriate royalties when their works were broadcasted .
Additionally, we set legislative amendments to ensure that Israeli artists are entitled to royalties when their works are played or broadcasted in public places, such as local authorities, event halls, cafés, restaurants, hotels, etc.
The 1996 legislative amendments also recognized the artist’s moral right to his works. In other words, the artist’s name must be mentioned, whether the work is vocal or audio-visual. Furthermore, the legislation prevents performances in such a way that will harm the quality of the works.
Shortly after these legislative amendments were approved, the “blank tape levy” law was passed in Israel to charge a levy on blank tapes, which already existed in most western countries. The law in Israel, however, is very different from in these other counties in that it contains clauses that violate the basic rights of performing artists.
The most important thing, however, is yet to be accomplished – to adapt the law to the digital era immediately due to the fact that The reality for performing artists has changed dramatically.