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Rights in Poetry Recitation and Recording

Introduction Do you have the right to upload a video of yourself reciting another poet's poem to a public platform and enable ads on it without any permission from them, or even informing them at all? Many assume spoken recitation is entirely free simply because the voice and the performance are their own, forgetting that the recited text itself remains fully owned by its original author regardless of how good the recitation is. Definition and distinction Copyright in a written text belongs to whoever originally composed the poem, while a separate "neighboring right" belongs to the performer or reciter over their own vocal or visual performance of that text — two entirely distinct rights that can overlap within a single case in different ways. Three fundamentally different situations should be distinguished here: personal recitation at a private or limited educational occasion, which usually needs no explicit prior permission; a recording published publicly with no direct or indirect commercial benefit at all; and a recording published on an ad-monetized platform or sold as a standalone product, which usually requires clear, documented permission from the original text's rights holder. There is also a very important difference between recording your own performance of someone else's poem in your own voice, and re-publishing an audio or video recording someone else made of their own personal performance. In the second case you need permission from both the text's rights holder and the recording's rights holder at once, because the recording itself — its editing, sound, lighting, and production effort — may carry separate protection for whoever produced it, even when the recited text itself has been in the public domain for a long time. A realistic scenario Picture a poet who took part in a public poetry evening and recited a poem by another living, well-known contemporary poet, then afterward wanted to upload the full video recording to their own YouTube channel with ad monetization specifically enabled on that video. This differs fundamentally from another case: posting that same recording as purely non-commercial personal documentation on their own page, with the original poet's name clearly and prominently credited in the video's description with no ambiguity at all. The first use is clearly commercial and calls for clear, prior permission from the text's owner; the second is limited documentation that may be acceptable in many professional contexts, provided it carries explicit, complete attribution to the actual original author. Practical application Step 1: Determine ownership of the text first, before any other step — are you the poem's own author, is it a public-domain text whose copyright expired long ago, or is it a genuinely protected contemporary text by another living poet? This precise determination guides every subsequent step in the decision. Step 2: If the text belongs to someone else and is genuinely protected, and your use is commercial in any form — such as enabling ads or selling tickets to a show that includes the recitation — get written permission from the poet or their publisher before posting through any medium. Assuming the recitation itself is a "tribute" to the poet is never a substitute for explicitly requesting permission. Step 3: If you are re-publishing an audio or video recording someone else made, rather than your own personal performance, get permission from the recording's own rights holder entirely regardless of the original text's status, because the right in a recording is completely independent of the right in the recited text. Step 4: Clearly credit the original poet's name in the description of every recording you post on any platform, even for purely personal, non-commercial use — attribution is an independent duty in itself, not tied solely to the existence of direct financial gain. Context that changes the meaning Traditional poetry evenings and major festivals were institutionally recorded by official radio or television channels under clear, written contracts precisely specifying who held republication rights between the organizing body and the poet themselves. Today, individual publishing via personal phone on social platforms is by far the dominant mode, usually with no written contract at all, which shifts the burden of verifying permission onto the individual publisher rather than a specialized institutional body as was previously the case. Legal systems also differ considerably between countries that recognize and strictly enforce international performance-rights conventions such as the Rome Convention, and others that leave wider room for limited non-commercial use without strict legal pursuit. This does not mean the ethical rule disappears in any way where legal enforcement is weak; attribution and respecting a poet's wishes about how their text circulates remain fixed professional duties regardless of how strongly a given country enforces them in practice. In Saudi and Gulf poetry festivals now broadcast live online, many organizers have begun including an explicit clause in the participation agreement clarifying who holds rights to republish the recording, which eases the participating poet's uncertainty if they read the contract carefully before signing it. Limits of the term and common mistakes A common mistake is believing that spoken recitation "cannot be stolen" because it is not a formally published written text in a book, ignoring that the recited text carries full protection regardless of the medium of its performance or how it reaches the audience. Another common mistake is conflating simple personal documentation with no significant material or reputational return worth mentioning, with a clear, direct commercial investment in someone else's content through ads or direct sales. Some also forget that the recording itself, with its production quality, editing, and choice of angles, may carry separate protection for its producer even when the recited text itself has been in the public domain for decades. Finally, it is a mistake to assume that a poet's brief verbal consent at a social occasion serves as permanent permission for any future use; the correct approach is always to document the scope and time limits of any permission clearly. Conclusion The practical standard: before pressing publish, honestly ask yourself who wrote this text, who recorded it if it was not your own personal performance, and whether what you stand to gain from it — materially or reputationally — requires a permission you do not yet have. If the answer is yes, delay publishing immediately until you obtain that permission in writing.