Charities will lose music licence exemption from January 2012

Charity shops and community groups will have to pay for licences to play music from January 2012 under plans that are due to come into force at the beginning of next year.
An amendmentto music licensing law, which means charities and other not-for-profit groups will lose their exemption from the royalty fees, was placed before Parliament yesterday.
The amendment says public venues, including those used by charities and not-for-profit groups, will need locences from the licensing authority PPL in order to play music from records, CDs, the radio or television. PPL and PRS for Music distribute royalties on behalf ofcomposers, lyricists, music publishers, record companies and musicians.
The law will be introduced on 1 January 2011, but charity shops and some other institutions will be exempt from the fees for the first year.
A statement from the Intellectual Property Office said a charge of £40 a year would apply to 60 per cent of the buildings where voluntary groups met and that most charity shops would pay £54 per year.
An IPO spokesman confirmed that the charge would apply to each shop, so charities with chains of shops would have to pay for every branch. He said larger shops would pay more than small shops.
The plans are part of a statutory instrument that was placed before Parliament and is due to be passed.The plans are a ‘negative instrument’, meaning they can become law without a debate or a vote in Parliament, although either parliamentary house can pass a resolution to annul them.
Nick Hurd, the Minister for Civil Society, said: “We have worked hard to ensure that charities, particularly small organisations and charity shops, get extra protection and that the impact of any charges is minimised.