Government proposes abolition of copyright exemptions for charities and not-for-profit organisations that want to play music…

The Government has proposed the abolition of the current exemptions for charities and not-for-profit organisations that want to play music. Currently, the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 have certain exemptions provided that certain criteria are met. Last year, the Intellectual Property Office consulted on what to do with those exemptions. The Government has now announced that its preferred option is their repeal. This was on the basis that the current position is very complex and has not worked well. It wants to move towards a simplified procedure for licensing, which in turn could mean that licence costs would be kept to a low, flat fee. There is also a proposal that the PPL (a collecting society for performers and record companies in the sound recordings) and PRS (a collecting society for owners of the music and lyrics) join forces when collecting royalties from charities and not-for-profit organisations. PPL and PRS have agreed to the single fee and collection point.