Hamish, you are one or two jumps ahead as usual.

THe parliamentary draftsman does not always know what he is doing, as the decades of muddle about "Road Used as a Public Path" demonstrates. Smetimes this leads the law into stragne byways.

I strongly suspect that a performer is to be viewed here as widely as in what used to be the perforemrs' protection acts, and as now is in Part III of the COpyright Designs and Patents Act - where the policy is one of inclusion. If (for example, and not by way of limitation) you sing out loud in the knowledge that others will hear I would expect that to be a "performance". I see no reason (yet) to think otherwise, with all respect to the learned author you cite. But the only ways to get a better idea would be to doble check in say LEXIS or LAWTEL to see if there are any cases if not deciding the issue at least coming close toit, or possibly trying to find Hansard from when the old Act was passed.

By the way, can you scan and post the whole of S182 and surrounding and related clauses, if you have the textbook?

'Twould facilitate rational debate rather than speculation.

I have had a look at the White paper (found in DOgpile search) and if I am looking at the right thing I don't see it saying what you say, so I am probably looking at the wrong thing. Can you provide a link or a url? I guess it must be on the open gov website somewhere.