Karaoke test case lost by licensee

By The PMA Team A London licensee has failed in his last-ditch test-case challenge over the interpretation of local authority licensing requirements for karaoke events in pubs. The House of Lords has backed a High Court ruling in which a legal challenge that could have paved the way for pubs to hold sing-along nights with the Kwizoke machine without an entertainment licence was dismissed. Licensee Sean Toye, of the Fleece, Abbey Street, claimed that the ultra-modern karaoke machine he used allowed him to bypass the PEL system because it created original music rather than played recorded performances. However, in a decision just published and without giving any reasons, the Law Lords have refused him permission to challenge the High Court ruling. The High Court decision was important because it had indicated for the first time that all musical events which involved more than two performers in the course of an evening had to have a PEL. Previously, legal experts believed that live music which involved just two performers at any given time was exempt from the requirement to obtain a PEL. Morning Advertiser legal expert Peter Coulson said the decision could be the "death knell" for certain types of entertainment such as talent contests and sing-alongs which under the ruling now needed a PEL. Toye was convicted by Camberwell Green Magistrates Court in November 2000 of allowing his pub to be used for the provision of entertainment without a licence, an offence under the London Government Act 1963. He appealed to the Inner London Crown Court which agreed that the Kwizoke equipment was different from most other kinds of karaoke equipment. It nevertheless rejected Toye's appeal, holding that what happened did constitute the reproduction of recorded sound within the meaning of the 1964 Licensing Act. That decision was backed by the High Court and has now been upheld by the Law Lords.