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British Performing Rights Society Wants to Outlaw ‘Making Hearable’

8:10AM October 10, 2007 | Adam Frucci

bananas.jpgHere you were, thinking the execs in the music industry couldn’t get any more offensively idiotic, when some Brits come along and set a new standard for hubris. Yes, the UK-based Performing Rights Society — the Brit equivalent of ASCAP or BMI — wants to make listening to music loud enough for anyone else to hear an offence punishable by hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. Sound like an Onion article? Oh, how I wish it were.

The chumps at PRS are suing Kwik-Fit, a car repair chain, for copyright infringement, claiming that they play their music too loudly and that people can hear it. Yep, that’s the offense. They claim that if you play music loud enough for others to hear, it counts as “performance.” Of course, if Kwik-Fit had a licence to play their music, everything would be dandy. The price of said license? A mere $61,000 a year. Are they insane? Seriously, this blows my mind. By their logic, you would need to pay the labels to listen to music in your car with your windows rolled down at a stop light if you were delivering pizzas or to listen to music at your desk at your office. Those all count as “performances” now, and if you’re at a place of business, they’d better pay up. Seriously, will someone burn this industry to the ground and built it anew with people who have souls? [Ars Technica]

Comments

  • Dave

    October 10, 2007 at 12:23 PM

    this is already the case in Australia – its just not policed

    PPCA – Publishing organisation

    Hold music is illegal
    Music that emanates from your car is illegal

  • Reckless

    October 10, 2007 at 1:57 PM

    FFS, this is getting out of hand.
    Soon any manufacturer of speakers will be open to lawsuits because they’re enabling the performance of music.

    What happened to the licence money that the radio stations paid? If they’re allowed to broadcast it, surely anyone is allowed to listen?

  • RouteNote

    July 3, 2009 at 12:28 AM

    Here’s a little thought experiment:

    All the Kwik Fit employees listen to the radio at home on portable sets. No problem, says the PRS. All the Kwik Fit employees take their radios to work, playing the same station, big problem, says the PRS… Same radios, same ears, what difference?

    The radio stations will be paying royalties to the artists to broadcast the music anyway, so why are the PRS trying to do music users at both ends?

    Fingercuffs, anyone?

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