Stemming from another thread, about the PEL, I have some questions and comments about the PRS license. The Performing Rights Society (PRS), for those who do not know, are a UK registered charity who 'collect' money for distribution to the copyright holders of songs performed in public.

Owners or licencees of public premises where music is played to the public, be it live or recorded, are threatened with prosecution if they do not pay a fee to the PRS. The fees are charged on a sliding scale - so much per year for the jukebox, so much for TV, so much for radio and so much for live music sessions. It also depends on the audience numbers.

To cut a long story short the PRS have recently clobbered the landlord at the pub which hosts our folk club for around 500 UKP per annum for the weekly folk music sessions. The landlord has decided that, seing as we are the only live music he hosts, he will pass that charge to us. An extra 10 pounds per week will, at best, detract from what we pay the artist - the very people the PRS say they protect - and at worse close us. We have talked to them but they are unrelenting.

We have pointed out that a lot of the material performed is either self penned or 'Trad - Arr. by..' and their only comment is that anyone who writes or aranges material will benefit from the charge. A straw poll amongst the artists we have booked recently revealed that no-one had ever received any monies from the PRS for their copyrigted material.

So questions (in no particular order) -

1. Does anyone out there actualy benefit from the PRS?
2. If someone was to stand up and say they would not pay the fee what could the PRS do?
3. Could we pay the copyright fee directly to the artist instead?
4. Should the landlord have passed the charge onto us anyway? (We have had an, up to now, excelent relationship with him btw)
5. Who realy does get all the money that the PRS take?
6. How would you go about raising the money to pay this charge?
7. Could anyone else form an organisation to achieve the same function?
8. If so, who would you then pay the money to?

I am sure I will think of more, but that will do.

Any takers?

Cheers

Dave the Gnome