The stage director as a subject of intellectual property rights: problems of the status determination

Introduction: the article considers the status of the stage director as a holder of neighboring rights to performance. For an appreciable length of time, the question of the nature of the director's rights to a theatrical performance was controversial in national civil law. To a large extent, this situation is due to the fact that a director of an audiovisual work, unlike a stage director, has a copyright. In both cases, the nature of the directors' work is recognized as creative; however, the absence of an objective form of the intellectual activity result makes it impossible to recognize the copyright of the theatre director to a performance. The legislator introduced a block of amendments to Chapter 71 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation directed at increasing protection of the stage director's related rights. In this regard, the analysis of doctrinal views and legislative constructions regulating directorial activity is deemed to be currently important. Purpose: to define the legal status of the theatrical performance director as compared to other performers specified in Article 1313 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Methods: the methodological framework of the research is based on the comparative-historical, analytical and system methods. Results: as the analysis has shown, in Russia there are no legal reasons for endowing the stage director of a theatrical performance with the status of the author, because the result of his work is not objectified. At the same time, the theatre director possesses a number offeatures different from those ofperformers and conductors, therefore his rights need an increased protection. Conclusions: the stage director holds a special place in the system of performers. That is why the national legislator's orientation towards strengthening the protection of directors' neighboring rights should be deemed appropriate. However, there are still some issues that require detailed legislative regulation.