While this is in England, it too will soon come to Canada.
Garage with two mechanics stages silent protest at being slapped with £43 royalties bill for listening to the RADIO
By Anna Edwards 14 March 2013
Two garage bosses have had to pull the plug on their transistor radio after they were hit with two bills for licence fees.
Jeff Parkins and Mick Collinson have refused to pay an extra £43.20 a year to listen to their radio at their two-man workshop after they had already paid £139.
The duo have argued that as nobody apart from themselves enter the garage Dickinsons, in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, they should not have to pay the extra fees.
garage
Jeff Parkins says he and his workmate now have to work in silence after they were handed the 'scandalous' double bill
Jeff and friend Mick's Scarborough garage have been ordered to pay two bills for playing their radio
The two friends have had a radio in the workshop since 1981, but when they were called this year by PPL - who represent performers - and the person heard their radio, they were told this year they would have to pay a fee.
Jeff and Mick were ordered to pay two separate licensing agencies - the PPL and the Performing Rights Society.
The Society acts for the writers and composers and the PPL represent the interests of the performers.
The men paid a £139 to PPL for the year but were then asked to pay £3.60 a month by the Performing Rights Society.
They refused to pay for the second licence - which all businesses are obliged to - and have switched off their radio.
Mick Collinson, 56, said: 'It's an absolute scandal.
'So we just put the radio in the boot of the car and took it home.
'It's a very private workshop with two people in it. It is not as if we had a room full of people watching TV and listening to music.
Jeff and Mick were ordered to pay two separate licensing agencies - the PPL and the Performing Rights Society
'It was just the two of us listening to Radio Two.
'Even if it is only another £40 it's a joke. They can say what they like but it is not as if we have a waiting room or anything else for the public .
'If a two man workshop is a public space what's a car then? Or a 12 seater people carrier?
'It has really got our backs up and that's why we've taken the radio out - not so much the money.'
Jeff Parkins, 59, said: 'It's a fiddle. We have paid one lot and now we've had to stop listening to the radio anyway because we don't want to pay the other lot.
'So now we have to work in silence all day. We have had a radio since 1981. We are two self employed people. We don't have a reception area or anything.
'Where we are we are not going get many of the public down here and most of the time the doors are down anyway.'
Mick added: 'Apparently we're broadcasting but I don't see how. Jeff couldn't hear it most of the time because he was working under a car.
'He could only listen when he came up to have a cup of tea.
'No one else is allowed in the workshop area anyway. If they came into the office to pay their bill they might be able to hear it - but only just.'
jeff
The tiny garage objected to the extra payment, and have now packed up their radio and now work without music
Scarborough MP Robert Goodwill said: 'These musical licensing agencies are particularly aggressive towards some small businesses.
'If they were driving around in a car instead of working on them they could listen to it for free.'
PPL Press Officer Clare Goldie said: 'When recorded music is played in the workplace, two licences are usually required.
'This is because copyright protects musical compositions and lyrics separately from the recordings of them.
'PPL licenses the use of the recordings, the fees from which go to many thousands of record companies and performers.
'PRS for Music licenses the use of the compositions and lyrics, the fees from which go to many thousands of composers and publishers.
'These two organisations exist to ensure that those who invest their time, money and talent to create the music people love, are fairly rewarded for the use of their work.
'Research has shown that music within the workplace can have significant business benefits, including improving staff morale and reducing employee sick days.
'Despite being separate organisations, PPL and PRS for Music work closely together and already operate a number of joint licensing solutions to further simplify licensing for businesses.'
'A PRS for Music licence pays royalties to those that have written, composed and published the music and a PPL licence pays royalties to the artists that have recorded the music and the record labels that own the recording.
'For a workplace with only 2 employees the licence cost from PRS for Music would be £3.60 per month.'
end
Garage with two mechanics stages silent protest at being slapped with £43 royalties bill for listening to the RADIO
By Anna Edwards 14 March 2013
Two garage bosses have had to pull the plug on their transistor radio after they were hit with two bills for licence fees.
Jeff Parkins and Mick Collinson have refused to pay an extra £43.20 a year to listen to their radio at their two-man workshop after they had already paid £139.
The duo have argued that as nobody apart from themselves enter the garage Dickinsons, in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, they should not have to pay the extra fees.
garage
Jeff Parkins says he and his workmate now have to work in silence after they were handed the 'scandalous' double bill
Jeff and friend Mick's Scarborough garage have been ordered to pay two bills for playing their radio
The two friends have had a radio in the workshop since 1981, but when they were called this year by PPL - who represent performers - and the person heard their radio, they were told this year they would have to pay a fee.
Jeff and Mick were ordered to pay two separate licensing agencies - the PPL and the Performing Rights Society.
The Society acts for the writers and composers and the PPL represent the interests of the performers.
The men paid a £139 to PPL for the year but were then asked to pay £3.60 a month by the Performing Rights Society.
They refused to pay for the second licence - which all businesses are obliged to - and have switched off their radio.
Mick Collinson, 56, said: 'It's an absolute scandal.
'So we just put the radio in the boot of the car and took it home.
'It's a very private workshop with two people in it. It is not as if we had a room full of people watching TV and listening to music.
Jeff and Mick were ordered to pay two separate licensing agencies - the PPL and the Performing Rights Society
'It was just the two of us listening to Radio Two.
'Even if it is only another £40 it's a joke. They can say what they like but it is not as if we have a waiting room or anything else for the public .
'If a two man workshop is a public space what's a car then? Or a 12 seater people carrier?
'It has really got our backs up and that's why we've taken the radio out - not so much the money.'
Jeff Parkins, 59, said: 'It's a fiddle. We have paid one lot and now we've had to stop listening to the radio anyway because we don't want to pay the other lot.
'So now we have to work in silence all day. We have had a radio since 1981. We are two self employed people. We don't have a reception area or anything.
'Where we are we are not going get many of the public down here and most of the time the doors are down anyway.'
Mick added: 'Apparently we're broadcasting but I don't see how. Jeff couldn't hear it most of the time because he was working under a car.
'He could only listen when he came up to have a cup of tea.
'No one else is allowed in the workshop area anyway. If they came into the office to pay their bill they might be able to hear it - but only just.'
jeff
The tiny garage objected to the extra payment, and have now packed up their radio and now work without music
Scarborough MP Robert Goodwill said: 'These musical licensing agencies are particularly aggressive towards some small businesses.
'If they were driving around in a car instead of working on them they could listen to it for free.'
PPL Press Officer Clare Goldie said: 'When recorded music is played in the workplace, two licences are usually required.
'This is because copyright protects musical compositions and lyrics separately from the recordings of them.
'PPL licenses the use of the recordings, the fees from which go to many thousands of record companies and performers.
'PRS for Music licenses the use of the compositions and lyrics, the fees from which go to many thousands of composers and publishers.
'These two organisations exist to ensure that those who invest their time, money and talent to create the music people love, are fairly rewarded for the use of their work.
'Research has shown that music within the workplace can have significant business benefits, including improving staff morale and reducing employee sick days.
'Despite being separate organisations, PPL and PRS for Music work closely together and already operate a number of joint licensing solutions to further simplify licensing for businesses.'
'A PRS for Music licence pays royalties to those that have written, composed and published the music and a PPL licence pays royalties to the artists that have recorded the music and the record labels that own the recording.
'For a workplace with only 2 employees the licence cost from PRS for Music would be £3.60 per month.'
end
