PRS holds key to folk music fees
I do not wish to jump in with both feet to the row over brewer Samuel Smith's decision to call time on a folk club after 30 years at one of its pubs, but it cannot be to do with the PPL.
Phonographic Performance Limited, to give this organisation its ancient and modern title, is a copyright fees collector. It collects royalties for background music, CDs and tapes. It does not collect for copyright on popular music or even folk music. That is the job of the Performing Right Society (PRS).
Most licensees will know that the PRS charges an annual fee to most pubs for the music that is played there, whether it be through radio or TV, live or recorded. Even the PRS is going to have some difficulty with folk music, because a lot of it is traditional and has either never been in copyright or is out of it now.
Both organisations are not greatly loved in the licensed trade, and they know it, which is why they spend a great deal of energy and advertising to tell licensees what they are about, protecting the rights of composers, arrangers, recordings artists and record com-panies. Clearly this has had no effect on Sam Smith's, because as I understand it, it is pulling the plug on all musical offerings on their premises.
But they have to be careful: getting rid of featured music is one thing, but it will not entirely remove your obligations under copyright law. Radio and TV is full of jingles, songs and snippets of music that someone owns, and even if it is just a radio for the benefit of the bar staff, the copyright agencies want their cut.
The charges are usually based on an agreed tariff and from time to time pubs are called upon to fill in a detailed form giving information about what music they use, what equipment they have and where it is located.
On that basis, together with the size of the operation, the tariff is adjusted.
Those who are aggrieved by the tariff or the size of price increases can appeal to the Copyright Tribunal. The Club and Institute Union did it a few years ago and won. Perhaps Sam Smith's might consider a reference if they think that the PPL charges are too high.
