We understand that many people working for charity and community organisations are volunteers, and that, often, those volunteers are not familiar with copyright licensing. So we appreciate you taking the time to find out more.
You’ll find lots of information here but you might prefer to speak to someone to get advice. Please call us on 0845 309 3090 – we’ll answer any questions you have and there is no obligation for you to give us your details.
The information here is specifically about charity and community groups –general information about PRS for Music can be found under the Find Out More menu on the right.
Information in this section (click to go straight there):
Four steps to understanding the licensing requirement
Including information for:
Community buildings
Healthcare premises
Members’ clubs and sports clubs
Religious buildings
Colleges and universities
Schools
Businesses and offices run by charities
Events run by charity and community groups
Your questions answered
Our approach to licensing Charity and Community groups
Four simple steps to understanding the licensing requirement
STEP ONE: Do you need to get a licence?
Firstly you need to consider whether you are responsible for arranging a licence with PRS for Music.
For premises, the proprietor is normally responsible for arranging a licence. So if you own or manage your own premises, you should contact us to arrange a licence if you, or anyone else, is using music in your premises.
If you are using someone else’s premises, for example if you hire a hall once a week or use a local authority premises, then the proprietor should arrange a licence to cover your music use. You may want to check with them that a licence is in place.
If you are running an event which is not in a fixed premises, for example, in a park, on your village green or in the street, you will probably be responsible for arranging a PRS for Music licence to permit your music use.
STEP TWO: Do we charge for your music use?
There are some circumstances where we choose not to make any charge for our licence. For example, we don’t charge for music used as part of divine worship or for music use in premises such as hospices.
See here for full details of all the circumstances for which we do not charge.
STEP THREE: How much will my licence cost?
We have a number of tariffs tailored to meet the needs of different types of premises and events. Wherever possible our tariffs have been agreed with representative bodies, or they have been set by the independent Copyright Tribunal.
Community buildings: run by voluntary organisations and serving the community (not including buildings run by a local authority or statutory body).
Our Tariff CB (new tariff from 1 April 2010) applies to community buildings and was agreed as “best compromise” in 2000 with Action with Rural Communities in England (ACRE), Community Matters and Wales Council for Voluntary Action.
Community buildings pay 1% of income, and can use almost unlimited music for that amount. Income does not include all the money received by the building. Income includes total income from events run by the managing organisation and total income from hire charges (regardless of whether music is used by the organisation or the hirer), subscriptions and net profits from bar, food and refreshment sales. Tariff CB starts from a minimum charge of £40 per annum, and you will only need to give us your total income (as defined) once a year. For full details, see Tariff CB (new tariff from 1 April 2010).
If your music use is very low and your income is disproportionately high, you could opt to be charged using Tariff GP and pay only for the specific devices and events that require a licence. Let us know if you think this might be the case.
Members’ clubs and sports clubs: such as working men’s clubs, amateur sports clubs and political and social clubs, which are not-for-profit and run by committees.
Our Tariff JMC applies to members’ clubs and was negotiated with CORCA (representing various groups) and set by the Copyright Tribunal in 1987. The structure of the tariff is based on that used for proprietary clubs, with annual charges for background music and separate charges for events using featured music.
Religious buildings
We do not make a charge for music used as part of divine worship. We also make no charge for music used as part of wedding ceremonies, civil wedding and partnership ceremonies, funerals or in funeral homes. See here for details.
For your convenience, Christian churches, church halls and Christian bookshops are licensed by Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) on our behalf, with charges starting from around £20. Charges are based on the size of congregation and cover the majority of music used on the premises. Large ticketed events and any church with more than 6 concerts or recitals per year may be licensed directly by PRS for Music.
For more information about the PRS for Music Church Licence please visit CCLI’s website: www.ccli.co.uk
Religious buildings for other denominations should contact us directly.
Colleges and universities
Information for educational establishments is available here. Any events held in colleges and universities need to be included on their licence.
Schools
Information for educational establishments is available here. If you use a school hall on a regular basis, the school’s licence covers all background music use and featured music use by not-for-profit community groups with up to 30 audience members, at no extra charge to the school. If you are holding a larger event in a school – see the events section below.
Events run by charity and community groups
If you are running an event which is not in a fixed premises, for example in a park, on your village green or in the street, you will probably be responsible for arranging a licence to cover your music use. Our standard tariffs for music events apply.
Please contact us to discuss your event and the charges which will apply.
We have introduced a new discount scheme for charity and community events, allowing organisers to apply for a discount (conditions apply). View details of the scheme and the application form.
You can also find information for local authorities here.
If you can’t see your premises type listed here or if you’re not sure which definition your premises would fall under, please call us.
STEP FOUR: Get in touch
If you are ready to arrange your licence, or if you have any further questions, contact us.
Your questions answered
There are lots of FAQs available under the Find Out More menu. And you can ring us for advice, with no obligation to give us your contact details. We have decades of experience in licensing Charity and Community groups, so you can be sure that we will answer your questions with understanding and consideration.
Do Charity and Community groups need a licence?
Yes. Whenever our copyright music is played outside the domestic environment, a licence from PRS for Music is required.
In fact, one of the most important cases which set copyright precedent concerned a Women’s Institute meeting, where a performance was given by members to other members of the group (Jennings v Stephens 1936). The court decided that this was a public performance. From that judgement it emerged that, for copyright purposes, every entertainment should be regarded as public unless it takes place within the domestic circle or home life of the audience. The judgement made it clear that, for example, the following considerations are immaterial: the nature of the premises and audience; whether admission is free or conditional upon payment of an annual subscription; whether the audience is limited to members of a club or other organisation; whether the performers are paid or unpaid and whether they are members of an organisation.
I thought there was an exemption for charity and community groups in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 ('CDPA').
The exemptions in the CDPA, detailed in Sections 67 and 72, do not apply to the rights administered by PRS for Music. The exemptions apply only to the separate rights administered by PPL. Even if you do not need a PPL licence, you will need a licence from PRS for Music. These exemptions are currently under review by the UK Intellectual Property Office (formerly the Patent Office). See the UK-IPO website for more details www.ipo.gov.uk
We haven’t had a licence before. I’m really worried that I’ll get in trouble or that my organisation will have high outstanding charges to pay if I try to arrange a licence.
Firstly, don’t worry. If you contact us now, we’ll sort out your licence and we’ll waive any outstanding charges for prior years.
Normally, if you have been using music without a licence, a Higher Royalty charge applies in the first year of your licence (standard charge plus 50%). You may also be liable for charges for music used in prior years. However, we are currently offering a special arrangement for Charity and Community premises, to allow them to get their licences up-to-date. If you contact us now, and assuming we haven’t contacted you previously about a licence, we will waive the higher charge and any outstanding charges for previous years. Conditions apply – please contact us for details.
We simply can’t afford to pay the licence fee.
If you are having real financial difficulty, please let us know. We will check the assessment of your charges and discuss payment options with you.
I need a bit more help to understand this information.
We know that some of our customers, for different reasons, may need some extra support to understand what may seem like complicated information. Please make us aware of your needs, and we’ll do everything we can to help. For example, if you find it difficult to download web documents, you can send them to you by post.
Our approach to licensing Charity and Community groups
The licence fees we collect represent the income of music writers and publishers in the UK and around the world. Many of our members rely on their income from royalties and we believe that they should be free to choose the charities they wish to support after they have been paid.
However, we also want to ensure that the need for a music licence does not prevent Charities and Community groups from using music and that our charges are always fair and reasonable. We also understand that many of organisations are run by volunteers who don’t want to spend all day filling out forms.
So, wherever possible, we tailor our tariffs to meet the needs of Charity and Community groups.
Many of the tariffs for community organisations have a single ‘all-inclusive’ charge allowing almost unlimited music use for a single payment.
In addition, we have responsible charging policies, and in some circumstances we decide not to make a charge for the use of our music. See here for details.
If you ever concerned about the cost of your licence or if you are having any difficulty paying your licence fee, please get in touch and let us know.
Note: All charges correct as at 29 June 2009