News
A new approach to online licensing; when talking together really works…
19th February 2002
A new approach to online licensing has been developed by the UK collecting societies MCPS & PRS (Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society and Performing Right Society) which will make the licensing of the composer and publisher rights in musical works more straightforward for online music users. The new approach follows a period of dialogue between rightsholders and online music providers.
EDiMA (the European Digital Media Association) and the MCPS-PRS Alliance got together last year to speak openly and frankly to each other about the complexities of licensing for online distribution from a business perspective on the one hand and a rights management angle on the other. The initiative first began when it became apparent that the only way licences could be properly and satisfactorily concluded for online distribution was if the licensee and licensor could agree on the basic fundamentals of online distribution and corresponding rights. The consultation programme also included frank discussions on the licensing expectations of both sides.
“The dialogue we had with the online music industry has been a big success”, says John Hutchinson, Chief Executive of the MCPS-PRS Alliance. “In EDiMA we found a strong group of digital distributors eager to get on with business and only too ready to sit down with MCPS and PRS to iron out difficulties and misconceptions that had built up over the past few years on both sides. We took the time to understand more about the actual processes involved in digital distribution and have created a licensing model to suit those needs. It’s now easier for online music users to get licences from us and for our members, that means better protection of their rights and proper remuneration for the exploitation of their work.”
“It’s not every day you come across such proactive collecting societies as MCPS and PRS”, commented Adriano Marconetto, president of EDiMA.“Through our discussions we learned that they too have constraints with respect to licensing, but this didn’t stop them sitting down and really making an effort to understand our business. We are completely confident that the work that has been done over the past 6 months will lead to the conclusion of on-line licensing deals with MCPS and PRS in the coming weeks and months. And that’s good news for everyone”.
Content providers can find out more about MCPS/PRS’s new approach to online licensing at www.mcps-prs-alliance.co.uk/onlinelicensing or email
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EDITOR’S NOTES:
· The MCPS-PRS Alliance is a jointly owned operational venture between the UK licensing and collecting societies MCPS (Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society) and PRS (Performing Right Society). Both societies represent their respective composer, songwriter and music publisher members – licensing their music, collecting and distributing their royalties. MCPS negotiates agreements with those who wish to record music on many different formats. PRS licenses the public performance, broadcast and cable transmission of music.
· EDiMA is a European trade association representing at EU level many of the major firms involved in the provision of music on-line today in a bid to develop a stable economic and legal environment for these businesses. EDiMA is the primarily the new media industry interlocutor in negotiations and discussions with national and EU policymakers, collecting societies and music organisations in the EU. Members of the association include Music Choice, Vitaminic, Fnac.com and DMDsecure.
