PPL music License

GlynD

Fluff is correct. PRS and PPL licences are for playing music in public. Be warned though - if you use a piece of music on your telephone system for the "hold" facility, this counts as public broadcast, so working from home or not you'd still have to pay a PPL licence.

arcon5

Not according to PPL.

You need a license wherever/whenever music is played for anything other than domestic/private use.

So if your listening to music in an office then its assume to be listening to music in a business environment and not a private/personal environment.

Many people these days work from home so they are clearly trying to maximize their revenue.

vax2002

They send out mass speculative invoices followed by speculative fake debt collectors letters.
They hope that the odd one take the bate and open a dialogue with them.
The Law of defences rule number 1
No name = No contract
In order to sue anybody for anything you need some conformation that the person you speculated to is a real person and willing to represent that person in court, hence why they need a bite.
Ignorance IS a very good defence, for if you have the gall to ignore someone and not give them your name or agree to represent that person then they are pretty stuffed.

GlynD

arcon5 wrote: »

Not according to PPL.

You need a license wherever/whenever music is played for anything other than domestic/private use.

So if your listening to music in an office then its assume to be listening to music in a business environment and not a private/personal environment.

Many people these days work from home so they are clearly trying to maximize their revenue.

The home is not subject to the legislation, same as with the smoking ban. It would be impossible to enforce. Unless you are broadcasting it on your telephone system. That's why most telephone manufacturers use a piece of music which is out of copyright, like the Cuckoo Waltz.

arcon5

fluffnutter wrote: »

I thought the whole point about needing a licence to play music in the workplace is that it can be overhead by members of the public - this is what makes it a licence for public, and not private use.

This is what is means by 'public':
(i.e. played in any context other than a domestic one)

Otherwise based on your interpretation a large office block without public access wouldn't need one.

arcon5

GlynD wrote: »

The home is not subject to the legislation, same as with the smoking ban. It would be impossible to enforce. Unless you are broadcasting it on your telephone system. That's why most telephone manufacturers use a piece of music which is out of copyright, like the Cuckoo Waltz.

Yes it would be impossible to enforce... doesn't mean it is not required. A home is not required, but a place of business is - a converted back bedroom is no less of a place of business than a dedicated office block.

You can smoke in your home... but if you have an office then it is classed as a place of business and you cannot.

Same way a private hire vehicle driver cannot smoke in his vehicle whilst working... dispite the fact he/she may be operating as an owner driver and the vehicle therefore also their private car our of working hours.

GlynD

arcon5 wrote: »

Yes it would be impossible to enforce... doesn't mean it is not required. A home is not required, but a place of business is - a converted back bedroom is no less of a place of business than a dedicated office block.

You can smoke in your home... but if you have an office then it is classed as a place of business and you cannot.

Same way a taxi driver cannot smoke in his cab... even if he/she is an owner driver and the car is also their personal vehicle.

You are incorrect. You can smoke in your workplace at home without any restriction whatsoever. The only regional parliament which made any kind of stab at it was the Scots who said it was ok to smoke in your office at home if you ran a business but to show some respect for customers by not smoking when they were there.

Same goes for the PRS and PPL. You can play music within the home, simple as that. If you play it on a business telephone service however that is classed as public broadcast.

paulsad

Aint it a load of boll*cks though; some smarmy twonk must have had a brainwave one day to fleece the masses ... may they spend the rest of eternity locked in a small room listening to Smooooth Radio or other such drivel....

fluffnutter

arcon5 wrote: »

This is what is means by 'public':
(i.e. played in any context other than a domestic one)

Otherwise based on your interpretation a large office block without public access wouldn't need one.

Interestingly, I don't think it does, strictly speaking. I looked into this when I was subjected to the horrors of some local commercial radio station when I moved roles and joined a new team, but admittedly didn't check out PPL (never heard of it), only PRS.

According to their website, it's all about public broadcast, and by that they mean anything that can be overheard by the 'general public'. It's not synonymous with 'workplace' apparently, and technically if you can't be overheard, you shouldn't need a licence.

Their argument seems to be that most workplaces can be 'overheard', e.g. by visitors, the postman, etc. and hence every one needs one.

It's a 'law' that seems to be able to be used to suit any context, quite frankly, and as such I distrust it.

Take, for example, the idea that your home is your workplace. They'd either argue that workplaces needed a licence, or if you challenged that and managed to demonstrate that your home was indeed a home and not a business premises *, they'd then argue 'ah, but you get post - you can be overheard, therefore you're broadcasting publicly, whether or not you're a workplace'.

I'm not opposed to the idea that broadcasting publicly should necessitate some sort of fee, but the spurious and vague 'rules' surrounding this do nothing to comfort me that this is applied fairly or legally.

* Working from home is not the same as being a homeworker. There are specific definitions that make a home a workplace for insurance purposes, council tax purposes etc. Merely getting your laptop out and banging away on the internet whilst pretending to your boss that you're producing that important report does not make your home a 'workplace'.

arcon5

fluffnutter wrote: »

* Working from home is not the same as being a homeworker. There are specific definitions that make a home a workplace for insurance purposes, council tax purposes etc. Merely getting your laptop out and banging away on the internet whilst pretending to your boss that you're producing that important report does not make your home a 'workplace'.

I agree. And to clarify, i'm referring to home-based business's ie. people who have a converted area of their home dedicated to running a business, an office for example.
Somebody with a laptop and an internet connection catching up on work clearly isn't a home based business.