Written question asked by Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party) on Tuesday, 6 January 2015, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 9 January 2015 (named day). A holding answer was provided on Friday, 9 January 2015. A substantive answer was provided by Lord Vaizey of Didcot (Conservative) on Tuesday, 20 January 2015 on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Music: Licensing

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make it his policy to support the establishment of a music licensing and collections agency.

Answer: While the Government recognises the value of collective licensing, only copyright holders can determine what they want to do with their rights. Where those copyright holders have expressed a demand for a third party to manage their rights and collect rights revenue on their behalf, they have already set up licensing and collections agencies. In the music sector this has already happened, and for a number of years Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) and PRS for Music (PRS) have been licensing rights and collecting and distributing royalties on behalf of rightsholders.

Secondary information