[fc-uk-discuss] Fwd: Re: Collecting Society Campaign

[Ed Griffith-Jones]

Interesting email from Tim Brookes about Collecting Societies

Ed

----------  Forwarded Message  ----------

Subject: Re: Collecting Society Campaign
Date: Sunday 27 November 2005 13:10
From: Tim Brookes <'tim AT htr.org.uk'>
To: Ed Griffith-Jones <ed at acrewoods.net>

On 12 November 2005, at 18:32, Ed Griffith-Jones <ed at acrewoods.net>

wrote:
> I'm currently trying to co-ordinate a campaign about Collecting
> Societies... Would any of you be able to help with the campaign...?

I'm fully in favour of the campaign but I'm afraid I just don't have
the time to get actively involved - I'm sorry.

> Any ideas/comments on the campaign itself would also be very useful.

My experience with PRS/MCPS and PPL is that only a very few people
working for these societies have any understanding of their own rules
and legal agreements.  Telephoning and writing to ask about CC,
non-commercial licensing, etc has provided me with a different answer
from every person who's responded.  Mostly, however, my enquiries have
been ignored.  One of my most recent attempts was to telephone the PRS
to ask whether, under article 7(f) of their Articles of Association,
they would return to me the right to make my works available on my own
website.  The man I spoke with on this occasion was as helpful as he
could be but had no idea whether or not the return of rights would be
possible.  He told me that he would refer my query to the PRS licensing
team but that it was very unlikely that they'd bother responding
because, quite simply, they had much more important things to do for
much more important members.  For the same reason, though, he assured
me that, even without the return of any rights, I could put my whole
catalogue on a website for free download without any fear of PRS taking
action.

I think this experience is probably very relevant to the campaign.  The
people trying to get collecting societies to accept CC are generally
the people who are yet to make their first million from royalty
payments.  These people are utterly unimportant to PRS et al, and the
PRS employees with the power and the knowledge have no time at all for
them.  I believe that the only way the societies will take any notice
of CC is if a few big-earners join our ranks.  If Paul McCartney, Elton
John and David Arnold wanted to issue works under CC licences than I
think that some headway might be made.  I think that a useful addition
to the To-Do list, therefore, might be "recruit successful composers
with high royalty earnings to support campaign".

I'm sorry that I can't commit to any sort of active involvement.  I
wish you every success with the campaign.

Tim.

PS. Having got nowhere with regaining non-commercial rights from PRS
and PPL I have recently written to both organisations to terminate my
membership.  As with most of my other attempts to communicate though,
they've completely ignored me and so, against my will, I am still a
member of both.

-------------------------------------------------------