2021 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 30 - Criminal Offenses
Article 16B - Unauthorized Recording
Section 30-16B-5 - Unauthorized recording of live performances; penalties.

A. It is unlawful for any person for commercial advantage or private financial gain to advertise, offer for sale, sell, rent, transport, cause the sale, resale, rental or transportation of or possess for one or more of these purposes a recording of a live performance that has been recorded or fixed without the consent of the owner.

B. Any person violating the provisions of Subsection A of this section:

(1) when the offense involves seven or more unauthorized recordings embodying sound or seven or more audiovisual recordings, at any one time, is guilty of a fourth degree felony and shall be sentenced pursuant to the provisions of Section 31-18-15 NMSA 1978; and

(2) when the offense involves fewer than seven unauthorized recordings embodying sound or fewer than seven audiovisual recordings, at any one time, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be sentenced pursuant to the provisions of Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978.

C. In the absence of a written agreement or law to the contrary, the performer of a live performance is presumed to own the rights to record or fix those sounds.

D. For the purposes of this section, a person who is authorized to maintain custody and control over business records that reflect whether the owner of the live performance consented to having the live performance recorded or fixed is a competent witness in a proceeding regarding the issue of consent.

History: Laws 1991, ch. 112, § 5; 2005, ch. 248, § 3.

The 2005 amendment, effective July 1, 2005, changed the threshold number of recordings embodying sound from one hundred to seven, deleted the former qualification that the recordings occur during a one-hundred-eighty-day period, and added the qualification that the recordings may occur at any one time in Subsection B(1); and changed the number of recordings embodying sound from fewer than one hundred to fewer than seven, deleted the former qualification that the recordings occur during a one-hundred-eighty-day period and added the qualification that the recordings may occur at any one time in Subsection B(2).