The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #123292 Message #2713620
Posted By: Howard Jones
01-Sep-09 - 08:54 AM
Thread Name: Making the gig legal
Subject: RE: Making the gig legal
"if you sing traditional material as I do ,or my own material,it is not a problem"
The PRS don't seem to see it that way. Their argument seems to be that it is impossible to guarantee that copyright material will not be performed at some time. This may be inadvertent, but some traditional material is copyright. Also, professional musicians may register their own arrangements - this shouldn't affect another professional who will be careful to create their own arrangements, but how many floorsingers have you heard copying Martin Carthy's (or Dick Miles') arrangement of a song?
If a performer does their own material but is a member of PRS, then my understanding is that they have then assigned the administration of their copyright to PRS and the venue still needs a licence. The performer then has to use the small gig scheme to make sure they receive their proportion of the licence fee.