Charity Forced to Pay Copyright Fee So Kids Can Sing Carols
Written by enigmax on December 09, 2007Christmas is known world-wide as a time for sharing, a time for giving. But for one charity, instead of Santa arriving with gifts, the copyright police turned up demanding money. Why? Because the charity allows children to sing carols on the premises and their kitchen radio is a little loud. You couldn’t make it up.
Be under no illusion, being unlicensed to play music to the public is a very serious situation in the UK. The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 states that if you use copyright music in public, you have to get permission from every single copyright holder to play their music. Or pay a fee to the right outfit.
Car maintenance chain Kwik Fit is currently tied up in a bitter legal battle with the UK Performing Rights Society (PRS). It’s alleged that Kwik Fit’s mechanics allowed their radios to be played within earshot of the public - a truly heinous crime for which the PRS are demanding £200,000 in damages.
According to a report, the PRS are at it again. The 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 raise the money for the license.
However, having purchased a license, this wasn’t the end of the matter. The PRS then started asking more questions, and when they discovered that kids sing in a carol concert there at Christmas, they declared that the premises were under licensed. Yes, of course - the PRS wanted yet more money.
“We got really worked up when they told us how much we would have to pay this year” said charity trustee, Margaret Hatton. “They asked us what facilities we had and we think they are charging more because they found out we’ve got a function room.”
The next quote from Margaret really speaks for itself - has the world gone mad?
“They told us the only way to avoid paying to sing the carols is if the kids are told to stick to old songs which are out of copyright.”
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.
Elaine Hurst, another Dam House trustee explained: “We know the recording artists need to be paid for their work but this is ridiculous.”
Every TV owning family in the UK has to have a UK TV License by law, the proceeds of which go to fund BBC TV and BBC radio stations nationwide. To charge a charity money because the public can overhear a radio is crazy, especially when you consider the public already paid another license to be allowed to listen to the content coming out of its speakers.
Merry Christmas PRS
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234 Responses
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Pay up and do as you’re told. Don’t make me come over there.
I advocate severe and irreparable bodily harm on the RIAA and PRS.
But no, really, I would be more supportive of advocating artists’ rights and copyrights if they didn’t have asshats like the PRS behind them. These people are the epitomy of filth.
Picking on a charity. What a low fucking act. I’d never thought I’d see the day when somebody does something good for charity only to get fucked over by the PRS.
I just need to stop reading the news, period.
The world seems to get worse every day.
This organization needs to be put in their place, disbanded and ridden out of town on a rail. The RIAA are a bunch of losers and should be ashamed of themselves.
Bunch of sobs, they need to get a life!
Boycott the bastards. The fastest way to get to the psychopaths that run these out of control juggernauts is to hit them in the bloody wallet.
Just stop buying music and other services that they offer, look for alternatives and go independent.
The only way to express your collective rage at this obviously idiotic behaviour is to cut off their life line: money.
While we can hope that the legal system would simply toss out a suit like this there are sitting judges and lawyers who are just as amoral as the PRS and and the RIAA; which incidentally aren’t the only corporations to behave in this completely anti-social fashion.
Consider that if you behaved in the same way on a personal level as the PRS you’d find yourself under observation and most certainly without friends. You’d be rightly classified a nutter.
So, just say no. Look for your music elsewhere and give the bastards nothing.
Fuck Them!!! Fuck UK !!! And most of all Fuck all THE UK LAWS AND UK LAWYERS !!!!.
——————-
All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front TITS
All I Want for Christmas is FUCK You
Do You Hear What I Hear ( FUCKING DEF)?
Frosty the HORNY Snow Man
Have Yourself a Merry Little DICK
Here Comes NAKED Santa Claus
I’ll Be DRUNK for Christmas
I Saw Mommy FUCKING Santa Claus
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like HELL ( IN THE UK )
It’s the Most RIDICULOUS Time of the Year ( IN THE UK AGAIN )
Jingle-BALLS FUCK
Little FUCKER Boy
Let it SHOW Let it SHOW, Let it SHOW
Silver BALLS
FUCKIN’ Around the Christmas Tree
Rudolph the Red BUTT Reindeer
——————————-
Sing it fuckers!!!!
Finally someone has the nerve to stand up to these charitable foundations. There’s no telling of the hundreds of millions of pounds they have stolen from hard working (although dead) artists like Bing Crosby. Just think if we can begin to tax every charity event! The world owes us a lot of back payment.
I wonder how long before they charge people to have ringtones, that can be heard in public. I best not fart in tune for fear of fines
Word!
What a scam hey.. Coyright everything you can people.. Looks like it’s the biggest scam going to make money for doing nothing, and it’s legal and the politicians love it, because they get kickbacks as well.
I’m looking into copyright now, see what i can copyright to take part of this scam and make some cash.
blood sucking sons of bitches
This happened before to a girl church camp for singing something like “If I had a hammer”. Their answer was to go to RIAA headquarters, all the nine year old girls locked arms and sang church songs. As the news cameras were videoing the protest, the girls begged the police to arrest them. You can imagine how fast the RIAA dropped the lawsuit.
The lesson - Don’t screw around with nine year girls on their home turf.
I would like to say “What the fucking hell?!”, but really I’m not at all surprised. Civil liberties mean little, if anything, to the powers that be. This is just another ridiculous example (in a long procession) of legislation that clearly resents our liberties.
shit makes my blood boil!
When you purchase sheet music (at least in the states), part of the fee is a royalty fee for the copyright owner. That should take care of any fees for the singing. They have already banned American football games broadcast in venues where an admission fee is charged (eg. party at a Hotel/Casino). Haven’t gotten around to radio in the office yet here, but that will probably be next since it is now playing in Great Britian.
This is what happens when your guns are taken away.
Trust me, Here in the Great Empire (of America) that twit from the RIAA woulda been DOA straight away. :D
Disgusting. Fucking coportaions. THey already got millions but is that enough? NO lets go rob the little children who sing CRISTMAS CAROLS!
THis makes me want to barf!
look you ridiculous sounding people, there is absolutely no point in swearing and cursing on this post, no-one is listening, certainly not at PRS Berners Street, london W1 where i used to work. They don’t care, are not interested in your views, and whatever you say, whatever you do or threaten is meaningless to them.It never has worried them and never will, and of course don’t forget if they don’t get you then phonographic performance or some other collection agency authorised by the artists through their record companies, will! We have all been mugs for so long and just let these things happen, so what DO you expect if PRS etc take it to the limit? Believe me they do not find it all strange or bizarre to be doing what they do! Have a nice day!
Britain used to be a cool place…I remember it as the anti-US back in the ’80s. I’d shoot across the Atlantic to loosen up and truly have some fun. Back then, the States were uptight and the Brits knew how to have a good time.
Now? Eh…both sides of the ocean are so totally petty, and this is just one more case. UK is going to the dogs, it is.
OMG I feel sick now…I’ve actually thought of this as a complete joke before…
Is the PRS the UK equivalent of the RIAA? It definately seems like the same sleezeball tactics those morons would use. Instead of going after real violators who pull down thousands of files, they’re going after granny, the charity group, and maybe even a church.
There needs to be a revolution regarding artists’ rights.
[quote comment="235544"]look you ridiculous sounding people, there is absolutely no point in swearing and cursing on this post, no-one is listening, certainly not at PRS Berners Street, london W1 where i used to work. They don’t care, are not interested in your views, and whatever you say, whatever you do or threaten is meaningless to them.It never has worried them and never will, and of course don’t forget if they don’t get you then phonographic performance or some other collection agency authorised by the artists through their record companies, will! We have all been mugs for so long and just let these things happen, so what DO you expect if PRS etc take it to the limit? Believe me they do not find it all strange or bizarre to be doing what they do! Have a nice day![/quote]
So you think it is ok for people from the PRS to take money from charities. People less fortunate then you. People that swear are just as angry as I am in reading a story like this. So you should leave them alone. It is just there point of view. And also if you worked there someone must be listing.
sick bastards should be shot
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