Comments on: Performing Rights - should everyone be sued?

By: Quaequam Blog! » Blog Archive » More from the IP Wars front line

Quaequam Blog! » Blog Archive » More from the IP Wars front line — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:42:09 +0000

[…] other matters, and a return of the Performing Rights Society. The Federation of Small Businesses has been complaining that many of its members have started […]

By: trish mcghee

trish mcghee — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 10:25:52 +0000

We are a small office based in the central belt of Scotland and we are being harassed by a representative of the performing rights who is insisting on getting entry to our office and demanding that we pay a fee to listen to the radio! We are an all female team and reluctant to let this man in, if we did listen to a radio this type of harassment would make me want to cut the plug of the blessed thing!!!

By: Ron

Ron — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:04:06 +0000

I have just been contacted by this society and been advised that I need to pay some £1800 per annum for hotel guests to view and listen to music in their rooms.
We pay for a Television Licence for the hotel.
The law states that once you have reserved a room in a hotel, it becomes your private residence,so any viewing of tv or listening to radio is deemed to be private.

By: Jock

Jock — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:08:14 +0000

I read something about this a few weeks ago (maybe the start of their campaign?). What they seemed to be targeting in that article was, for example, Kwik-fit I think was mentioned, where you go to a mechanic and he’s under a car with the radio or music player turned on and anyone coming in to the place (ie the public, a customer) can hear it. So it didn’t appear to cover someone listening through headphones.

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 16:56:21 +0000

Campaign; let’s all write and ask how much we owe, or perhaps enclose a 1p cheque each:-)

By: Will

Will — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 13:12:10 +0000

Blimey, what a shockingly wilful misinterpretation of the law. “Playing in public” means “Playing to the public” not “Listening privately in a public place”. Talk about trying to give copyright owners a bad name…