The BBC reports:
A shop assistant who was told she could not sing while she stacked shelves without a performance licence has been given an apology.
Sandra Burt, 56, who works at A&T Food store in Clackmannanshire, was warned she could be fined for her singing by the Performing Right Society (PRS)….
Dan says:
A slide that will appear in every copyfighter’s powerpoint for the next 200 years.
October 23, 2009, 2:31 pmDotar Sojat says:
A license was needed to play a radio within earshot of customers! In The-Britain-Formerly-Known-As-Great, the descent into madness continues.
October 23, 2009, 3:34 pmgasman says:
I have a terrible voice, a tin ear, and cannot carry a tune.
October 23, 2009, 3:41 pmGot a deal for the Performing Rights Society; they pay me to keep my yap shut in public and I don’t desecrate their artists’ work
Einhverfr says:
gasman:
Be careful about singing in earshot of customers in some countries lest you infringe on artists’ moral rights…. ;-)
October 23, 2009, 3:56 pmCurt Fischer says:
I don’t usually sing when I go out in public, but maybe John Cage could still have sued me…
October 23, 2009, 4:12 pmSoronel Haetir says:
My understanding is that this is true in the US as well. Certainly is true for businesses that expect more than just a few customers at any particular time. Look at the terms for sattilite radio or cable tv sometime.
October 23, 2009, 5:01 pmNorthern Dave says:
Given my dulcet voice, I think a defense of “Satire” might be applicable if accused of copyright violations :-)
October 23, 2009, 5:03 pmFub says:
Definitely true in the USA. It’s a live performance. See the ASCAP FAQ.
October 23, 2009, 6:06 pmRandy says:
In this case, the woman singing was stacking things, and so was NOT a public performance. Which is why she didn’t get dinged, but rather received an apology.
BTW, places of worship are exempt from ASCAP. All the more reason I should incorporate as a church: Tax benefits AND I can perform anything for free!
IT will be called the church of Randyism.
October 23, 2009, 6:26 pmBama 1L says:
Doesn’t the ASCAP FAQ say the opposite of what Fub cites it for? Owing to a 1999 amendment to the copyright act, a bar/restaurant or retail store generally does not need any license for its radio receiver.
The satellite/cable licenses are probably driven more by the satellite/cable vendors’ interests than by the letter of copyright law.
October 23, 2009, 9:36 pmArthurKirkland says:
Why are places of worship exempt from ASCAP enforcement? (Are they exempt from BMI enforcement?)
Is it because ASCAP issues a pass? Or because American law provides exemption? Or something else?
October 23, 2009, 11:17 pmFub says:
I took the clerk’s singing as a live performance, which apparently the PRS also did initially. That’s why I wrote “It’s a live performance.”
It is also true that prior to 1999 ASCAP goons would shake down shops with radios playing. I heard more than one recounting of that from small shop owners over the years.
October 24, 2009, 12:33 amRandy says:
Arthur: “Why are places of wor ship exempt from ASCAP enforce ment? (Are they exempt from BMI enforcement?)”
I don’t know. I saw it on the FAQs section of ASCAP.
October 24, 2009, 1:25 amSagar says:
a society ruled by lawyers …
October 24, 2009, 10:59 amBama 1L says:
Yes, ASCAP decided to give churches a pass. Shaking them down seems not to have appealed to the organization. Churches do not have a special power to defy intellectual property law generally. You have to be a state government to get that.
October 25, 2009, 6:56 pm