[cma-l] Music royalties and the third Sector

[Jaqui Devereux]

Dear all

Please find below an article in Third Sector on music copyright 
published today.

As you are aware the CMA shares the same concerns as the sector about 
various aspects of music royalty licensing and we are extremely 
concerned as to how our sector is treated.  We are continuing to work on 
your behalf to get fairer treatment for community radio from PPL and 
MCPS-PRS.  We will keep you posted on any developments for the sector.

In the meantime if you have any detailed queries on royalties, please do 
not hesitate to contact us.

Best wishes

Jaqui
--
Jaqui Devereux

Director
Community Media Association



Article:

Bullying allegations for PRS as music rights row continues

By John Plummer, Third Sector Online, 14 November 2008

The Performing Right Society has agreed to develop a code of practice
after allegations were made that it was "bullying" charities and small
businesses into paying licence fees for playing music.

In a House of Commons debate on 12 November, Alison Seabeck, Labour MP
for Plymouth Devonport, said the society's actions had given her
"cause for concern".

She pointed out that the average cost of a licence from the PRS for
sports clubs was £369 a year and that one treasurer had "received
numerous very aggressive phone calls and a letter from the PRS
threatening enforcement within 14 days".

Intellectual property minister David Lammy said the society, a
not-for-profit membership organisation that represents 60,000 people
in the music industry, had agreed to establish a code of practice to
deal with complaints.

He said he had also asked the society to reflect on the breadth of
organisations it approached for fees, and that what constituted public
performance needed reviewing. "If the system is to work properly, it
must gain the confidence of the public," he said.

Charities currently have to pay for licences from the society, which
collects royalties for composers and lyricists. But they are exempt
from paying royalties to Phonographic Performance Limited, which
represents the interests of music producers and performers. The
Government has proposed ending the PPL exemption.

The Association of Charity Shops warned this week that an end to the
PPL exemption could land charity shops with a £900,000 annual bill for
playing music in-store (Third Sector Online, 10 November) and called
for the exemption to continue. Charity-run hospital radios would also
be affected.

Seabeck told the Commons: "Many charity shops use music to support an
attractive retail environment, in the same way as any retail concern,
except of course they divert all their profits to charitable purposes.

"According to the charity shops, the current government consultation
on music licensing threatens to add substantial costs to their
outgoings. That money could only come from funds earmarked for vital
causes. Surely that is not a desirable outcome."

Small businesses, she added, had "inundated" her with similar concerns.
-- 
Jaqui Devereux

Director
Community Media Association

15 Paternoster Row
Sheffield
S1 2BX

+44 114 279 5219


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