Music Legislation

Planning for Public Performance
Legislation

There are several forms of legislation in place relevant to Live Music.   These protect the musician, venue/bar, patron and anyone else directly connected to the performance.
The musician must protect their interests, they need to be sure they are earning the money they are owed and that they won’t be liable for anyone else’s mistakes.   There is legislation in place and several organisations to help them with this; they include the Musicians Union, PRS for music and PPL.
The Musicians Union directly protects a working live musician by supplying essential legal and representation services.   They specialise in supporting professional and student musicians of all ages. For a small monthly fee the union can advise on anything from legal problems to contractual and copyright issues.   This service is essential to all gigging musicians as without it they often find them selves stuck with a huge legal fee over an issue that would have otherwise been easy to rectify.
PRS For Music and PPL are two organisations established to ensure musicians are getting paid what they’re owed from their live and recorded work.   PRS deal with artists recorded material and copyrighted compositions as PPL monitor live performances royalties.   An artist signs up for these services, their material is uploaded to the two organisations respective websites and they monitor venues, radio stations and TV stations to make a tally of what the musician is owed in royalties.
Musicians and composers are also covered legally by the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.   This act states it’s “to make fresh provision as to the rights of performers and others in performances; to confer a design right in original designs”.   They directly protect artists original, written material.   Copyright is very important, especially for those musicians getting a lot of radio play.   If they don’t have their material protected they have no legal backing if said material...