The rights PPL can manage in the UK
PPL does this on behalf of whoever owns or controls the copyright in the recordings (for example, a record company) and the performers who performed on the recordings.
PPL does not deal with all of the rights that recording rightsholders and performers may have. Our main role is in relation to:
- The right to play recorded music in public;
- The right to broadcast recorded music (e.g. on TV and radio); and
- The right to copy recorded music for the purpose of playing it in public or broadcasting it.
We also manage the rights in certain other uses of recorded music (including some online uses, such as internet radio). However, there are rights in recorded music that PPL does not manage, for example, the on-demand streaming of specific tracks on services like Spotify.
For the rights we manage, we issue licences to businesses and broadcasters which give them permission to use recorded music in these ways, covering all of the members whose rights we represent for those uses. Because our licences cover such a wide range of recordings in this way, this type of licensing is sometimes referred to as “collective” or “blanket” licensing. The business or broadcaster obtaining the licence (the “licensee”) pays licence fees to PPL in exchange for the permission they are being given, and those fees (or royalties) are then distributed to our members.
Learn more about how PPL royalties are calculated
The rights PPL can collect for internationally
PPL’s ability to collect royalties for the use of music differs depending on the rights available in each country. The main rights types PPL collects internationally are:
Public performance – the use of recorded music in public places and businesses.
Broadcasting – radio, TV and online broadcasts, including cable re-transmission.
Non-interactive webcasts – transmission of linear audio or video content over the internet.
Simulcasting – when an online programme is being shown at the same time as it is being broadcast on traditional TV channels.
Dubbing – revenue from copying of recordings when the end product is used for public performance or broadcast. An example is copying for the use in systems such as jukeboxes.
Private copying – when blank media (e.g. CDs, mobile devices) are bought for personal use to account for recorded music being copied domestically.
Lending – lending of copies of sound recordings by educational establishments, libraries or archives where the sound recordings are borrowed by the end user, usually for free.
Rental – operates on a similar basis to lending, whereby the user rents a CD but will pay a fee to the rental outlet.
Audio Visual (AV) – where sound recordings are incorporated into commercial (films and TV programmes) and non-commercial (the underscore in films and production music in TV) AV works.
Cable retransmission – simultaneous, unaltered retransmission of a primary broadcast intended for reception by the public in a closed cable network system by a party other than the primary broadcasting organisation.
Learn more about international royalties
International distribution and qualification rules
In addition to the rights we’re able to collect, qualification and distribution rules apply to collections across differing territories. Like PPL, each collective management organisation (CMO) will have its own set of distribution rules that it will apply to the revenue it collects.
Distribution rules can include limitations or statutes on:
- Open years – claiming and distributing may be different.
- Qualification rules.
- Roles recognised – featured artist, non-featured artists, other featured artists, conductor.
- Allocation of revenue to different roles.
- Points-based systems.
- Sales data declarations for recording rightsholders.
- Label level payments.
- Costs and deductions may apply – social and cultural deductions, administration.
Performer qualification rules can differ country to country dependent on the below:
- Right to Equitable Remuneration – Rome Convention (established in 1961) and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (established in 1996 addressing digital landscape).
- Performer qualification in the UK – country of birth, country of residency, country of performance.
- Criteria in other territories – country of publication/release, country of commissioning, country of citizenship, country of residence, country of recording, country of mastering.
For all the rules covering performer qualification see the Performer Qualification Rules.
Recording rightsholder qualification rules can differ country to country dependent on the below:
- Recording rightsholder qualification in the UK – country of birth, country of residency, country of performance.
- Criteria in other territories – country of publication/release, country of commissioning.