[cma-l] Music royalties and the Third Sector

[Karl Hartland]

Hi

> 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.

But this does not apply to those CR stations which are charities, like us?

K

Karl Hartland
209radio Station Manager

105 FM in the Cambridge City Area
http://209radio.co.uk everywhere else!

Citylife House
Sturton Street
Cambridge
CB1 2QF

01223 488418
07968 898254

209radio is a Registered Charity in England, No. 1124610,
and a Company Limited by Guarantee, No. 5585527

Jaqui Devereux wrote:
 > 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.