I received an email from the FSB (Federation of Small Business) last week where they were asking if any small businesses had been approached by the PRS (the Performing Right Society) to pay a fee for playing music in their place of work as they are calling for the PRS to banish license fees for all small businesses.

I couldn’t believe what I was reading so decided to look into it further (even though it doesn’t  affect me).  Apparently small businesses like hairdressers, offices, garages, Doctors waiting rooms, guest houses, factories in fact, anyone that plays music in any public place have been approached to pay up or be taken to court for breaking the law.

By law under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, if you use music in public (i.e. outside of the home), you require the permission of every writer or composer of the music you intend to play.  This means you would have to contact thousands of music creators to obtain their agreement to play their songs in your business or organisation.  So PRS for Music was set up by songwriters, composers and music publishers to manage this process on their behalf. 

Kwik Fit was tied up in a bitter legal battle with the PRS.  It’s alleged that Kwik Fit’s mechanics allowed their radios to be played within earshot of the public for which the PRS were demanding £200,000 in damages. (This was last year and I can’t seem to find out what happened in the end).

Staff at a charity also received a visit from a PRS officer who declared that because a staff radio in the kitchen could be overheard by the public in their tea-room, they would need a license.  The charity, Dam House, which was originally set up to save a historic building and offer community and health facilities, had to have a fund-raising event to radio the money for the license.

Even kids singing Christmas Carols have been targeted by the PRS.  Also playschools have also been approached and told they would have to pay a license fee to play DVDs to the kids.

Radio stations pay large amounts of money to licensing organisations PRS and PPL for the music they play, and music has been on the radio for many years aimed at workplaces.  If the PRS force people to switch their radios off , because they cannot afford the license fee, then how are these stations going to survive?  After all music has to be heard before people go out and buy it.

Next thing you know someone will be saying ‘Happy Birthday’ is copyrighted and you can’t sing that to the public in the tea-rooms.  Well, unfortunately it is, and legally you can’t.

Let me know what you think about all this below.