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Performing Right Society

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Devonport (Alison Seabeck) on securing the debate and on the forensic, reasoned and able way in which she discussed the issues. I found that incredibly helpful. This is, indeed, an opportune moment for us to reflect on the activities of the copyright licensing bodies, and in particular of the Performing Right Society, given that a number of complaints have been received by the Intellectual Property Office and by my Department. First, I hope that the whole House will join me in recognising the success of the members of the Performing Right Society. The society represents the songwriters, composers and publishers who make such a large contribution to the economic and cultural wealth of the UK. Of course, we are not just talking about the Beatles’ back catalogue; we are talking about the creative work that young British people—many of them from the least advantaged parts of our society—are doing today. Two million people are employed in creative jobs, and the sectors contribute £60 billion a year to the UK economy. That is 7.3 per cent. of our gross domestic product. Over the past decade, our creative sector has grown at twice the rate of the economy as a whole, and it is well placed for continued growth as demand for content grows around the world. Intellectual property remains the lifeblood of the UK’s creative industries, and those industries are even more valuable to the UK economy in tough times than in easier ones. In the music industry, the value arises from copyright. Copyright is important because it provides the legal framework to sustain and protect creative value. Let me now say a little more about the Performing Right Society—the PRS. It is a not-for-profit membership organisation representing 60,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. PRS members have a right to request remuneration whenever their work is broadcast on radio or TV or in public. That right is protected under international, European Union and national legislation. My hon. Friend was right to say that the PRS is responsible for collecting the payments due to its members for the use of their music. In that sense, it is entitled to collect licence fees when music is broadcast in public, but of course, the value of music is not just about the revenue that it can bring. The value also lies in the music being heard and being accessible to the public. What do we want our copyright system to deliver? We want it to maximise the availability of creative works to the public. We want to ensure that creative endeavour is rewarded, and that users can enjoy what has been created, on fair and reasonable terms. Here in the UK, we have one of the world’s more liberal systems governing our licensing arrangements. Let us look, for example, at the process of setting the tariff, which is the cost of the licence to the end user. Our system expects the PRS to negotiate tariffs and other terms and conditions with relevant representative bodies. Usually, that would be a trade association or similar body. Our system expects those players to agree a market rate for a licence, which is settled through negotiation. If negotiations break down, the user can refer the scheme to the copyright tribunal. In other jurisdictions, they do things differently. In some, the licence terms and conditions are set by the administration; in others, the licence terms are set by an independent tribunal; and some licensing bodies are under constant administrative supervision. The questions we must ask ourselves are, first, whether our system is working and, secondly, whether it is seen as fair and reasonable. My hon. Friend is right to suggest that we also need to ask about the very nature of the word ““public””, particularly in the context where small businesses are facing harder economic times and the PRS has acknowledged that it is moving deeper into the types of businesses that it responds to. We are talking about very small cafés, very small neighbourhood hairdressers or the local chip shop, for example. My hon. Friend also raised issues about the hospital radio station and the local community centre. If the system is to work properly, it must gain the confidence of the public.