Sponsored by
Scout group hit by new music licence fees
CHARITY groups and scout leaders have hit out new rules which mean they will have to pay up or turn off.
The Performing Rights Society (PRS) and the Public Performance Licence (PPL) want community groups to cough up for the music they play at events, while raising money for good causes.
A shake-up of copyright rules will result in charitable groups and not-for-profit organisations having to be licenced by PPL to play music for the first time.
At present such groups are not subject to licensing for publicly playing copyrighted sound recordings and broadcast music, although they do require a PRS for Music licence covering the rights of composers and lyricists. The Government says the system is too complex.
However, it is feared some Fylde-based charities will have to shell out between 50 and 800 on licences, depending on the size of the event.
Scouts district commissioner Steve Williamson (inset) said: "Some of these charity events do not make enough money to warrant an extra expense. While I can understand artists wanting to get paid royalties, at the end of the day it is all for charity."
Margaret Taylor, of Staining, who raises money for soldiers' charity Help For Heroes, said: "It's just more red tape to deal with. Some of our events use a DJ and generally they carry their own licence but a small church hall wouldn't and it's unfair to charge for a charity event. I understand that the artists are losing out but surely they would not begrudge a charity."
Ian Fogg, from Thornton Cleveleys Round Table, said: "All the money we raise goes straight to the charity and any other expense is incurred by the individual, like petrol or travel expenses. If this came in it would put people off organising these events."
Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, said: "We call on PPL and PRS for music to review this decision and not charge organisations who are fundraising for the good of their community."
PRS for Music's Acting chief executive officer, Jeremy Fabinyi, said: "We have been licensing music use in premises all across the UK since 1914 and, working with our customers, we have developed a fair and balanced licensing approach, ensuring community groups can enjoy the benefits of using music. We are committed to working with PPL to develop a pilot joint licensing scheme ensuring easy access to music for all that wish to use it."
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Blackpool
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 14 C to 27 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South west
