Thursday, December 20, 2007

Merry Christmas from the copyright police

From TorrentFreak: A small charity are getting a little fed up with the attentions of the UK Performing Rights Society.

"The staff at a charity also received a visit from a PRS officer who declared that because a staff radio in the kitchen could be overheard by the public in their tea-room, they would need a license. The charity, Dam House, which was originally set up to save a historic building and offer community and health facilities, had to have a fund-raising event to raise the money for the license.

However, having purchased a license, this wasn’t the end of the matter. The PRS then started asking more questions, and when they discovered that kids sing in a carol concert there at Christmas, they declared that the premises were under licensed. Yes, of course - the PRS wanted yet more money."

They did generously say that the kids would be allowed to sing old songs on which the copyright had expired without having to pay any fees.

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