Performing Rights Society

It is one complete con!

Of course it depends whether your excruciating noises are excruciating copyright noises or excruciating copyright-free noises.

Maybe the thing to do is wait until the PRS spivs arrive, lock them in a room and then play your guitar at them until they agree not to try and levy a fee or alternatively become unhinged and forget thayt they are PRS spivs. Given a choice between being unhinged and "working" for PRS would be a no-brainer for most of us.

Arkwright

Fantastic.

PRS next.

Hi All,

This will be my last posting on here as i have decided to leave the FSB. Those who wish to know why can email me.

I would reccomend everyone who has problems with PPL & PRs to get a copy of this months ''The Caterer Licensee & Hotelier.''

Front page news is how they have beaten PPL in court over charges and the ways in which fees are attributed.

Good Luck to you All.

Neil

To be fair to them, they did appologise and admit that they had made a "Big mistake", however it does show the attitude of the Organisation that some of the staff that work there, believed this would be acting within the PRS's policy.

Don't tell everyone, but it appears that you can sign up more than once to these petitions. I did. Accidentally, of course. Sorry to number 10 website - I am number 11 on the list, and also 217 (ish):-

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Clarify-PRS/

I have posted the link on here and Moneysavingexpert.com and Digital spy in order to gain signatures, also Radio Jackie has a link to the petition on their website. If anyone can think of anywhere else that it could be posted that may raise the awareness, please post the link or let me know and I will post it.

The number 10 petition is still running until 14th November, but only has 216 signed up so far:-
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Clarify-PRS/

Also PRS have been in the news trying to claim money for singing :-
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2009/10/15/prs-threatan-gran-with-four-figure-bill-for-signing-to-customers-in-shop-86908-21748400/
(From digital spy forums)
You could not make it up. Insane.

Keep up the legal arguments here, of course, but you are all wasting your time unless you get a lot more people onside about this issue.

Just in case anyone thinks that small businesses with a workforce of 4 or fewer will automatically receive the discount on "licence offer" from the PRS, you should be warned that this discount applies only to those businesses where music is being played in Staff areas only.

Kevin, the PRS/MCPS alliance has existed for about a decade. And they issue, as far as the owners of conmercial premises are concerned, a unified licence.  As far as the agreements with their members are concerned there are a couple of versions depending on why the individual is joining

PRS Agreement....

The Membership Agreement, which when signed by you will only take effect if your application for membership is successful, transfers to the Society the ownership of your performing and film synchronisation rights.  If you are in any doubt as to the effect of the Agreement on your ability to deal with the copyright in your works, you are advised to take legal advice before signing it.

    The legal transfer or assignment of the rights contained in the Agreement will normally be for the territory of the World but you may be entitled to exclude certain countries from the scope of the Society's administration of your rights.
    
    The Society's articles also permit applicants to exclude part(s) of the performing right and/or film synchronisation right from the extent of the transfer.  A list of the permitted exclusions may be requested from the Member Admissions team on 020 7306 4805.  Do not sign the Agreement if you are intending to exclude any country and/or any part(s) of the performing
right and/or film synchronisation right from the extent of your assignment to the Society.

    The Society reserves the right to disclose certain information concerning any of your registered compositions to authorised members using the Society's Online Services Enquiry System and any associated e-mail or telephone enquiry system(s).

    PRS for Music is the trading name of Performing Right Society Limited ("PRS"), Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society Limited ("MCPS") and The MCPS-PRS Alliance Limited.

My analysis shows that PRS’s performance rights are no basis’s for such a claim

Kevin, the PRS don't claim any performance rights!  They're claiming PERFORMING rights. These are two very different things!

It's the composers and publishers who are signed up to PRS/MCPS (and on who's behalf they claim to be acting). And those AREN'T necessarily the same people who are performing the music...    Whereas in your analysis you've cited and based your entire point of view on the parts of the act that ARE concerned with the rights of the people performing the music... 

The section 72 exemption you refer to, as I've already pointed out twice now, was effectively removed in relation to broadcasts that include music by the 2003 Statutory Instrument...

Section 19 Paragraph 4 of the CDDPA to which I asume you refer means that if you (for instance) decide to relay a broadcast of a copyright work to the public , and thereby infringe the rights therein, the person sending that broadcast (i.e. the TV or Radio station), cannot be held to be a party to that infringement....

This Is one I actually remember from my ITV days.  The classic example of this is where a pub relay the showing of a scrambled film where the film is licensed only for viewing on domestic premises.  Clearly this is an infringement, but without the S19(4) provision there would be a danger of the right owner having a remedy against the innocent party; i.e. the broadcaster... 

Remember, the act was drawn up when  encrypted transmisions and PPV were just starting up...  Both broadcasters and distributors were nervous about the Impact of places like pubs and clubs effectively eroing theatrical (cinema) releases of premium films...

MCPS: Mechanical right stem from the days before recordings existed. At the dawn of mass recording It would have been possible at one time for someone to pay a small royalty just for the right to perform the song.   There was nothing to stop them recording that performance and go on to make a fortune from the recording... 

Before the author and publisher of the song had mechanical rights they would have just had to stand by and watch as their creation made money for somone else.. They would also have struggled to control how their creation was used. MCPS was established in 1924 (I think) to administer this new layer of rights on behalf of the publishers and authors....

Yet again though... Neither the PRS or MCPS have any interest in the actual performance itself... What they control is the right to perform the composition...

The Act only allows those who have explicitly given exclusive copyright rights to have legal standing.

Indeed... The PRS/MCPS only act for those who are members. Again in one of my previous posts I mentioned an internet based PRS/MCPS/PPL  free radio station...  They play only music from people who AREN'T PRS/PPL members... See my post of 09 Oct 2009 at 12:31am

For a raft of other reasons we've avoided wherever possible using PRS/PPL material in all our programmes for many years.  But I can see the non-prs stations growing; in years past the non-PR market was largely restricted to music for films and video. But the 2003 SI has inadvertantly opened up a new buiness opportunity for those prepare to cock a snoot at the PRS...