I think there was a discussion about that awhile ago, although I had not previously seen the site.

Smells like a combination of attempted extortion and "let's see if this scheme will fly". Some of the "logic" they present in their FAQ is faulty at best.

It's also interesting that their license doesn't seem to be "needed" if you're playing CD-R recordings of records (or downloaded files).

I'm curious about a law like that in the U.S. too. lately i have heard about yearly fees just to play music in certain venues. and i thought that if you have the cd that most software downloads the licences showing it was a purchased cd.
anyone know the deal with this?

With that site, i wonder what the defination for "professional" purposes is.

We have fair use laws in the USA, we can copy/backup as much as we want. As far as I know clubs pay all the licensing fees. If we had this stupid dj'ing license in the USA all hell would break loose.

Yes, in the UK you have to pay... and that's for a block of songs up to a certain amount (I think it's per 10,000 songs).

In the US we have fair use from the RIO decision that allows us to space-shift (format-shift) for PERSONAL use but not for COMMERCIAL use. And in addition, we have to pay licensing to ASCAP, SESAC, and BMI for public playback of the tracks. And yes, technically the venue is supposed to pay ALL THREE.

Some countries don't have ANY mechanism for format/space-shifting which means that if you show up for a gig with MP3's you can be arrested!

The licence is seriously flawed, it even undermines the whole purpose of it existing (to protect against copyright infingement) for example:

What happens if I lose the original record?

Provided that you made the digital file from a legitimate source, it does not matter if you no longer have access to that source. Therefore you can keep the file under the licence even if the record that you purchased from the store is broken, lost or stolen or if the original file that you downloaded from a legitimate website is deleted from the DJ Database or the Back-up Database.

Stupid! that means you could download an entire collection on lime wire, and if questioned, say all your 'originals' got lost or stolen...

In some peoples eyes (ie microwavers), thats not a bad deal for 200 quid + VAT...


The other daft thing is that all venues have to have a PPL licence, and then you have to buy your own if you use a laptop! why??

And here is the critical part, you cant burn a CD from WAV into MP3 without an MCPS licence in addition to PPL, and im sure my boss said they started at 400 pounds.

Oh, and to finish off, the licences are per annum

It's some crazy shit, I suppose most dj's in the UK can't be bothered with it, or are dj's really running out to get licensed now?

i've ripped thousands of songs from my cd's to my computer. i dont keep track of them after that because if they get scratched they're no good to me. If i am DJ-ing somewhere, what could happen? how would i prove they're mine. and where does commercial come in? i'm getting paid to entertain people... is that comercial? or is it people who would be using a song on their radio comercial?

There are two ways to look at it.
1) if you do get a PPL + MCPS, you show yourself as making an effort to be on the right side of things and cough up however much for the correct licences.
2) You pass off the licences for now as useless until they have thought about it properly and cover all the loop holes.

I regularly have a guy who visits from the PRS (Performing artists society) who records the songs im playing for royalty and copyright purposes etc, even he dosnt know where it stands - apparently the venues PPL covers me, even when i was playing from serato on mp3s - I didnt question further just incase i got myself in trouble :) He was an older guy and it appeared that anything to do with computers confused him.

so to keep myself safe to I need to find a guy like your contact and buy a licence, if so how do i go about that?

You don't buy the licence from the guy that comes round to the venue, you get them online, try these links:

Getting a PPL licence:
www.ppluk.com

MCPS licences & info:
www.mcps-prs-alliance.co.uk

A report by the BBC on digital licencing
news.bbc.co.uk

These are for the UK so im not sure what it's like abroad. I emailed the MCPS to find out what i had to buy when the issue first arised, but they didnt bother to reply.

If a public venue plays music at any time of day (dj or no dj) they must have a PPL. It's whether that licence covers you or not for a laptop and serato - my guy seems to think it does :)

Plus, if you are a mobile jock, i wouldnt imagine you need to worry. I have a residency so i am trying to keep up to date with the whole thing.

As for the US, There are currently no restrictions for ripping CDs to a hard drive, although tape and vinyl are still a gray area. TM Century even gives advice on how to do it on their web site (www.jonestm.com). And for those who know, TM Century virtually invented Promo services years before Promo Only & RPM.