Music Kwik-Fit sued for listening to radio

[alextwo]

A car repair firm has been taken to court accused of infringing musical copyright because its employees listen to radios at work.

The action against the Kwik-Fit Group has been brought by the Performing Rights Society which collects royalties for songwriters and performers.

At a procedural hearing at the Court of Session in Edinburgh a judge refused to dismiss the £200,000 damages claim.

Kwik-Fit wanted the case brought against it thrown out.

Lord Emslie ruled that the action can go ahead with evidence being heard.

The PRS claimed that Kwik-Fit mechanics routinely use personal radios while working at service centres across the UK and that music, protected by copyright, could be heard by colleagues and customers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/...st/7029892.stm

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

You have got to be friggin' kidding me... Man, i hope they never come by the shop here!

[Poisonous]

Could say it wasn't the radio, but in fact, their own "quick fix X factor"

[oddball walking]

Dear god this is stupid, it should be thrown out.

[cderalow]

if this goes through, essentially every frigtard with a radio blaring down the street, could be sued....


that'd be insane!

[tacticus]

Same thing happens in Australia ARIA (our version of the RIAA) demand that places playing music pay a licenseing fee even if they are just playing the radio even if its on hold music i have seen them demand it for public domain music or cc licensed stuff as well :\

They consider it a public performance. welcome to the wonders of distribution\copyrights and yet another reason they need to be seriously changed

[Ramble]

I listen to the radio at work.
Just try sue me.

[Poisonous]

Originally Posted by Ramble

I listen to the radio at work.
Just try sue me.

PM incoming for details to sue.

[Nexxo]

It is not the only case either.

but this case won't fly.

The radio station pays a fee to the Performing Rights Society for the music that they broadcast. The rate they pay is scaled according to how many people hear the music, and generally radio stations pay one big fee to cover all their music for a year at a time. The assumption is that when a radio station broadcasts music, it is available to anyone who can listen to that radio station.

A "performance" can be thought of as whenever the music is played publicly - this means to anyone other than yourself. Generally speaking, public performances are very broadly construed under the law and are defined as performance “at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered.” This has been interpreted to mean that most performances at private clubs and organizations are “public” under the Copyright Law.

Early versions of the copyright law limited the exclusive right to performances given “publicly for profit.” Today, however, the “for profit” limitation has been repealed and only an explicit list of exempt performances do not require a license from the copyright owner. These include performances by instructors or students in the course of face-to-face teaching activities of non-profit educational institutions, performances of music in the course of religious services at a place of worship, and performances by the public reception of a transmission on a single receiving apparatus like those commonly used in private homes when no charge is made to hear or see it and the performance is not further transmitted to the public. An example of this last exception would be a store that uses a typical home radio connected to two or three “home-style” speakers to provide radio programming to employees and customers. Some courts have held that the important factor in determining qualification for the exemption is the kind of radio equipment, i.e., “home-style,” rather than the size of the facility or the fact that the store is part of a large chain.

The bottom line is that someone is already paying a licence fee for playing music to the employees and customers of Kwik-Fit (or the Newsagents): the radio station. Since Kwik-fit and the newsagent are not, as it were, redistributing (i.e. broadcasting the performance explicitly for commercial gain), they do not have to pay another licence.

[tacticus]

/me attempts to import uk law
It's much more sensible than the laws around here

[Nexxo]

Actually, the above is UK and US law. I suspect that Australian law is pretty much the same.

[tacticus]

Originally Posted by Nexxo

Actually, the above is UK and US law. I suspect that Australian law is pretty much the same.

If it is i have seen quite a few lawyers get it wrong because places commonly receive legal advice not to play the radio over phones or in stores without a license

ARIA even has their own shakedowns, they cruise around every 6 or so months and hit all the stores that are not displaying the we license aria music sticker and then send out a whole collection of registered letters to anyone who is playing music or radio in the store even places playing CC or public domain music

[Ramble]

What the hell is a home-style radio?

[yodasarmpit]

I wonder how this would effect where I work, we have a number of large screen TV's in our offices, often tuned into digital radio stations for the benefit of the office staff.
The irony being, I work for BSkyB, I would love to see James Murdoch's face if they went after the actual broadcaster.

[cpemma]

Originally Posted by Nexxo

The bottom line is that someone is already paying a licence fee for playing music to the employees and customers of Kwik-Fit (or the Newsagents): the radio station. Since Kwik-fit and the newsagent are not, as it were, redistributing (i.e. broadcasting the performance explicitly for commercial gain), they do not have to pay another licence.

Erm...linky? My hairdresser was moaning about having to pay to have the portable radio playing in the salon.

Originally Posted by PRS

Does it matter how the music is performed?
No, whether the performance is played live or by such means as CD, radio, DVD, TV, karaoke etc, whether a charge is made for admission, or whether the performers are paid, a PRS Music Licence is still necessary.

You have a TV licence - isn't that enough?
A TV licence permits you to receive certain broadcast signals. It is not concerned with copyright material. If you play copyright music in public by any means you are likely to need a PRS Music Licence. PRS licenses the public performance of music that is included on TV such as theme tunes, adverts and music played within films and TV programmes.

For radio, it's £63.37/annum (covers up to 30 seats) in her case. For QFit it's more complicated and there's a minimum sum;

Workstations, etc.
For music audible to workers at their work stations or otherwise during the course of their work in factories, works and other similar industrial premises, and in offices:
The royalty per day (being calculated by reference to the number of employees to whom the music is audible) for each half-hour (or part thereof) of performance for each unit of 25 employees (or part thereof) is ........11.00p

[DougEdey]

What happens if I play my music and someone walking past hears it? Will I be fined?

A bit drastic I know, but that's the way I see it happening

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

Originally Posted by Ramble

What the hell is a home-style radio?

A scratch-built one? lol

[specofdust]

Just one more reason the entire copyright/record industry setup needs to be utterly destroyed, and rebuilt from the ground up.

[DarkLord7854]

Coulda sworn radio was free.. darn

[cpemma]

Originally Posted by tacticus

If it is i have seen quite a few lawyers get it wrong because places commonly receive legal advice not to play the radio over phones or in stores without a license

The situation with Kwik-Fit is complicated by the fact that

The Edinburgh-based firm, founded by Sir Tom Farmer ...said it has a 10 year policy banning the use of personal radios in the workplace." but the inspectors found "the audible playing of music at Kwik-Fit on more than 250 occasions in and after 2005 ... music audibly 'blaring' from employee's radios in such circumstances that the defenders' [Kwik-Fit] local and central management could not have failed to be aware of what was going on."

The judge said: "The allegations are of a widespread and consistent picture emerging over many years whereby routine copyright infringement in the workplace was, or inferentially must have been, known to and 'authorised' or 'permitted' by local and central management."

The PRS have obviously gone after Kwik-Fit to bring a test case and establish that "home-style" equipment rather than a commercial piped-music system makes no difference in law, and if your staff ignore your rules, you're still responsible for their actions.