Copyright Law and Your Neighborhood Bar and Grill: Recent Developments in Performance Rights and the Section 110(5) Exemption

This Article attempts to clarify the chaotic state of the law concerning performance rights. First, it briefly summarizes the history of this right and discusses some of the problems Congress sought to resolve when it passed the 1976 Act. Second, it outlines several of the Act\u27s key provisions on the performance right. Finally, it discusses the recent decisions which have interpreted these provisions and analyzes their impact on the activities of commercial establishments. These decisions show that the pertinent sections of the 1976 Act provide reasonably clear guidelines outlining the ways in which copyrighted works can be publicly performed or exhibited without fear of infringement