Performance Rights Society Goes After Childrens' Charity

from the that-hard-up-for-money,-huh? dept

We've noted in the past that the Performance Rights Society (PRS), which is in charge of collecting performance rights royalties throughout the UK, has basically been pushing the boundaries of the definition of a "public performance" -- and it's reaching the point where if anyone else hears the music you're playing, you may owe PRS a royalty. For example, they first went after car repair shops where mechanics in the garage area were apparently listening to personal radios loud enough for customers in the shop to hear. Then, they went after police stations that had personal radios playing loud enough for others to hear.

The latest in its effort to look about as obnoxious as possible is to (seriously) go after a non-profit children's community center for using a TV, radio and CD player to keep kids entertained. As the folks who run the community center note, they already have a TV license, and have purchased the CDs legally. Yet, PRS wants them to pay again -- and not a small sum, either. It'll be another £3,000 to actually use these products that were legally purchased. It's almost as if the folks on the "royalties" side of the music business want to look as evil as is humanly possible.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: community center, performance rights, royalties, uk
Companies: prs


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Ima Fish, 17 Oct 2008 @ 11:43am

    "It's almost as if the folks on the "royalties" side of the music business want to look as evil as is humanly possible."

    Well, they are a part of the music industry.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Kyros, 17 Oct 2008 @ 11:50am

    I wonder where they hide their horns...combovers? Plastic Surgery?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    jdb, 17 Oct 2008 @ 12:07pm

    Easy

    Just don't buy music. I stopped 5 years ago.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    GeneralEmergency (profile), 17 Oct 2008 @ 12:08pm

    Time for parental action!

    Please, if you are a parent of an adult child who works for the Performance Rights Society (Gang, more like), please invite them home for dinner tonight. Please do not delay as this is important.

    Once they arrive, make sure your favorite dinner music is playing softly in the background as you serve dinner. During dessert, be sure to present your child with a bill for 3,000 Pounds to cover your obligation to the PRS. If your child refuses to remit, notify his or her PRS supervisor at your first opportunity.

    If none of this works, please spank your badly behaving child no matter the age.

    You owe this to society as you clearly made serious mistakes in raising your child.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 17 Oct 2008 @ 12:16pm

      Re: Time for parental action!

      I think you have it backwards...
      Have the "child" invite you over dinner and give them a bill for their entertaining you with TV, music etc...
      When they refuse to pay PRS rat them out!

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Tony, 19 Oct 2008 @ 3:28pm

      Re: Time for parental action!

      I love the idea of spanking any RIAA related adults!

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2009 @ 12:13pm

      Re: Time for parental action!

      what does that even mean? you are silly

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Killer_Tofu (profile), 17 Oct 2008 @ 12:33pm

    Tell them to

    Just tell them to feck off.
    Seriously, refuse to pay no matter what.
    Sometimes you have to stand up for what is right, no matter what. About 99.5% of the population would side with them on this. At least I would guess it would be easily over 95%

    Btw, those mechanics didn't seriously pay did they? I hope not. These people need a good slap in the face. Need to wake up to reality.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 17 Oct 2008 @ 4:48pm

      Re: Tell them to

      I believe the Mechanics simply stopped listening to music. Can't remember where I read it though, I believe it was on TorrentFreak

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Greg, 17 Oct 2008 @ 12:34pm

    #5 has it right. And I'd hit them with a bigger bill than £3,000 just on general purposes.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Jake, 17 Oct 2008 @ 12:52pm

    As far as I know, the PRS is unfortunately at least partially correct about the letter of the law here; every video or DVD I've ever watched has carried a warning to the effect that if you play it anywhere but a private home you're in big trouble, which I presume is a hangover from the early days of VHS when the cinemas were worried about losing revenue. (Some things never change, it seems.) I doubt it's ever been tested in court, as it's so totally impractical to enforce that even the big studios couldn't be bothered to try... until now, it seems, unless this is some PRS employee(s) acting on their own initiative.

    Incidentally, I'm actually quite glad that this kind of crap is still a police matter; if the PRS do finally get their way on spot checks, which I presume they requested and were refused back when this law was new, better said spot checks be done by someone not employed by the PRS itself.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 17 Oct 2008 @ 1:43pm

      Re:

      Do radios in the UK come with warnings? Is it really illegal to play your radio loud enough for someone else to hear it? I thought not.

      The only solution to this BS is the obvious one: Everyone quit buying recorded music. Thus, the PRS and the recording mafia in the US will have no monies to collect, and they'll wither and die (which seems to be what they're trying to accomplish). Unless they start charging us for singing, humming and whistling. In which case, it's time for them to start getting measured for their dirt naps, because someone will justifiably go postal on them.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Yakko Warner, 17 Oct 2008 @ 2:22pm

        Re: Re:

        Your solution doesn't go far enough. If they're able to collect money for playing a personal radio too loud (re: the auto shop lawsuit), that's not purchased, recorded music, that's broadcast music. (Unless the British definition of "radio" is closer to "CD-" or "MP3-player".)

        So the solution isn't just to stop buying recorded music, but to stop listening to broadcast stations as well.

        Might as well just not listen to any music at all, just to be on the safe side.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    shmengie, 17 Oct 2008 @ 2:02pm

    blimey! limey!

    thank god i live in america, where no such nonsense exists!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Oct 2008 @ 2:11pm

    about those radios playing loud enough for "other ppl to hear" didn't the radio station already pay the performance rights? doesn't that cover the owner of the radio and who ever might be passing by in the street?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Oct 2008 @ 3:15pm

    how about just kick them in the ass!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Howard_NYC, 17 Oct 2008 @ 5:42pm

    from the people who made Scroooooge into a household name...

    from the people who made Scroooooge into a household name...

    ...now there's even less reason to go to the dentist (oh, wait, this is the British we're talking about)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    PRS, 17 Oct 2008 @ 5:46pm

    Laughing all the way to the bank

    WooHoo, this is like taking candy from a baby.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Griper, 17 Oct 2008 @ 7:28pm

    Parties

    I wonder if they make their kids pay performance fees when they throw a house party.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Warren, 17 Oct 2008 @ 8:07pm

    Performance Rights Society Goes After Childrens' Charity

    Well that would put a stop to loud boom-box bass coming through the walls from neighbors and passing cars. It's about
    time there was a law!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      No Six Pack, 17 Oct 2008 @ 8:20pm

      Re: Performance Rights Society Goes After Childrens' Charity

      "It's about time there was a law!"

      That's pretty funny.

      If there were laws dealing with everything that bothered anyone then no one would be allowed to do anything. But wait, wouldn't that bother some one ? I'm so confused.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Warren, 17 Oct 2008 @ 8:30pm

        Re: Re: Performance Rights Society Goes After Childrens' Charity

        I was joking! What PRS proposes is absurd.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 18 Oct 2008 @ 12:47pm

      Re: Performance Rights Society Goes After Childrens' Charity

      awww.. move out of the city if you don't like lots of people around.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    PRS sucks, 19 Oct 2008 @ 1:36am

    Illegal monopolies embedded in law . .

    Er, this is the same PRS who some years back announced they no longer collected performance fees from

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    PRS Suck, 1 Nov 2008 @ 11:02am

    PRS Suck

    Hate to tell you all this but the PRS has the law on its side.

    As the saying goes the Laws an Ass

    They are also going after all small business even if there is only 1 or 2 people.

    Unfortunately this Not for profit PRS has deep pockets to take this to law and win

    Government needs to stop this and we all need to demand they are stopped

    Last thought
    Someone does a song, the record company pay them
    The radio plays it and also pays them
    You listen and you now pay them
    Then if you like it you can buy it and pay them
    And if you play it out side your home you can pay them again.

    I do a job and get paid once, guess I am in the wrong line

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    KD, 15 Nov 2008 @ 3:10am

    Petition to number 10

    Go to:

    http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Workplaceradios

    and sign up to this petition - who knows? But at least you will have taken a little positive action!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    emma (profile), 24 May 2011 @ 2:58am

    Not the best of PR eh?

    That's a real shame, and although I can see that they need to protect the rights of the artists and music publishers, I don't think 3 grand is a reasonable expectation of any small business just for playing CDs in a place where other people may hear the music.

    I'm sure the PRS haven't actively target children’s charities, but surely they can come up with a decent scheme that doesn't make them look so bitter and money-grabbing?

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.