Digital DJs ‘unaware of copy law’
Published January 16th, 2006
Many DJs are still unwittingly breaking the law by playing unlicensed digital copies of tracks months after a new permit scheme began, the BBC has found.
The annual licences, costing £200 plus VAT, were introduced by royalty collection agency PPL in September.
DJs who copy tracks onto computers or MP3 players without one are breaking copyright law, the organisation says.
But Radio 1 DJ Fergie told Newsbeat he did not know about the licences and doubted many other DJs did either.
The licences are needed by any DJ who wants to store digital copies of sound recordings to use when playing in public.
This includes legally-purchased downloads, which are normally licensed only for personal use, as well as copies of tracks from records or CDs.
PPL said many DJs wanted to play from laptops or MP3 players instead of records or CDs, despite the fact it was illegal without the permission of the rights owner.
Business affairs director Peter Leathem told Radio 1’s Newsbeat: “Rather than saying stop it, don’t do it, we’ve actually tried to embrace what people want to do and come up with a licence to be able to do that.”
He said the £200 charge was “reasonable”, adding: “You don’t actually have to DJ using a laptop. You can use vinyl, you can use CD, so we’re saying that if it’s not worth your while spending £200 then don’t do it.”
The licence money goes to the 3,500 record companies represented by PPL.
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