Regulation And Its Impact On Copyright

1. PR10: Regulation and Its Impact on Content
Copyright.The copyrightlawwasreleasedin1988 to protect musician’s
music/contenttostopotherpeople fromusingitandmakingmoneyoff of
theirsong.Music copyrightisthe legal protectiongiventothe creatorsof
music.Copyrightisprobablyone of the biggestmainfactorsinthe Media
industrythatproducersneedtoapplyor have data of to protecttheirfilm,
songetc. Theycan protecttheircontentby puttingthe copyrightsymbol
somewhere intheircontentbyshowingthisthe majorityof people
wouldn’tdare touse your contentor else youcouldgetgivenprisontime orfinedahighamountof
money.Copyrightalsoallowsmusicianstogetpaidfor theirwork.Musiciansare paidwith
somethingthatis referredtoas royalties.Howeverinordertocollectthese royaltiessomeonewill
have to distribute ittothemandthat’s whenthe PRS for musicand the PPLcome inthese two big
musicindustrycompaniescollectthe royaltiesandthendistributeittothe songartists thatmade a
specificsong.The PRSfor musicandthe PPLcollectroyaltieseverytime aspecificsongisplayedon
the radio,basketball game etc.Alsothe PRSformusicand the PPL are bothNon-Profitorganisations.
Furthermore if anyone wishestoplayanartist’ssongthat theyownthe copyrightstotheymustfirst
contact the PRS for musicandthe PPLor else bothorganisationsare able totake legal action.
Howeverfirstof all the PRSfor musicand the PPL needtoknow whoto pay or else no-one will get
payedif the song isplayedonthe radioas an example.The PRSisa UnitedKingdomorganisation
that controlsthe royaltiesandhowartistsgetpaid. Alsowhatmostpeople needtolookoutfor
whentheywantto broadcastan artist’ssong isthe budget.Theyneedtolookoutfor thisbecause
dependingonwhichcompanyownsthe songtheymaycharge more for people touse there songon
a radio stationetc.Larger companiesmayhave largerbudgetsora blanketagreement.However
productionson a smallerbudgetmightnotbe able toaffordthe rightsfor commercial musicuse,so
on the otherhand there musicwill be limitedbuttheywill still getpayedforwhereverthere song
track is playedorbroadcasted.Alsothe majorityof composerswill needtogetclearance off of the
PRS formusicand the PPL if theyare able toget clearance bycontactingthemwiththeirsongtrack
the composerswill thengetpaideverytime the trackisplayed.Howeverif theyare un-able toget
clearance theywill need totalktoeitherthere recordlabel orcomposertoobtainclearance toplay
there song.
The nextsubjectIam goingto talkabout isblanketagreements.Blanketagreementsare sometimes
or mainlyusedbylarge independentproductioncompanies.Eventhe BBC(BritishBroadcasting
Corporation) usesablanketlicence agreement. If alarge independentproductioncompanyorthe
BBC as an example pay’sayearlyfee tothe PRSfor music,theyare thenable to playor broadcast
any PRSmanagedmusic.Andfromthistheydo longerneedtoobtainan individual licence every
time theyplaymusic.Asan example of ablanketlicence agreement,if the BBChada blanketlicence
agreementwhichtheydo;theywill nolongerhave topayformusicout of there productionbudget
that theyobtaineverynowandagain.The BBC radiosectorgetsa total percentage of 19% off of the
licence fee forthe BBCso theycan produce all there radioshowsto entertainthe public(Theyhave
a radio stationforeverydemographicgroup).HoweverasI wassayingbefore,despitethe factthey
don’thave to pay outof theirproductionbudgettheystillhave tomake a musiccue sheetsothey
can reportto the PRSfor musicon whatmusictheyare using.Butthe mainthingthe BBC mustlook
out foris musicthat the PRS formusicdon’tmanage theyneedto lookoutfor thisbecause ablanket

2. licence mightnotbe enough. Reportingmusicinotherwordsmeanspayingforitevenif youhave a
license withthe PRSformusicor withthe composerof the music you still needtoreportitso the
PRS formusicand the PPL knowwhoto pay. Bydoingthisthe musiciansthatproducedorwrote the
musicwill getroyaltiesoff the PRSformusicandthe PPL.Alsoif the BBC (BritishBroadcasting
Corporation) asan example don’tmanage toobtainclearance theycouldface legal actionfor
copyrightinfringementandtheycouldbecome liable topaydamagesandcosts.