Legislation

The legal framework for playing music in restaurants, cafés, hospitality venues and other businesses, explained in simple terms: music copyright licensing, any premises-licensing conditions that may affect operating hours or late opening, and the rights of copyright and related-rights holders. A clear overview of your obligations and the options available to you.

Music and the Law – What You Need to Know

Playing music in a restaurant, café, bar or other business open to the public is subject to copyright law, which determines who owns rights in the music and who may be entitled to payment when that music is used in public.

Separate rules may also apply to the premises itself, including entertainment licensing, permitted hours and conditions imposed by the local licensing authority. This section explains the main points affecting your business in simple terms.

Playing music legally – 2 separate requirements

  1. Copyright permission to play music

    2. Businesses that play live or recorded copyright music in public will usually need permission from the relevant copyright owners or licensing bodies. For repertoire represented by PRS for Music and PPL, this is generally provided through TheMusicLicence. Different permission may be required where the music is represented by another rights holder or licensing body.

  2. Premises licensing and late-night entertainment

    3. In England and Wales, copyright licensing is separate from entertainment and premises licensing under the Licensing Act 2003. In certain circumstances, live or recorded music taking place between 8:00 am and 11:00 pm at premises licensed for the sale of alcohol, with an audience of no more than 500 people, does not require separate authorisation as regulated entertainment. Outside the applicable exemptions, a premises licence, variation of an existing licence or, for eligible temporary events, a Temporary Event Notice may be required. The permitted hours and any conditions applying to the premises are dealt with by the relevant local licensing authority.

Copyright and related rights

When music is performed or played in public, more than one set of rights may be involved. These broadly fall into two categories:

Copyright in the musical composition and lyrics, involving songwriters, composers, lyricists, publishers and other copyright owners.

Rights in the recorded performance and sound recording, involving performers and record producers.

Copyright

Section 19 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 provides that performing a copyright literary, dramatic or musical work in public is an act restricted by copyright. Section 11 provides that the author is generally the first owner of copyright, subject to the exceptions contained in the Act, including rules applying to works created by employees in the course of employment.

Copyright can be assigned or licensed. Under section 90 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, an assignment of copyright must be in writing and signed by or on behalf of the person assigning the right.

Related rights

Performers and producers of sound recordings have separate rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This is why playing a recorded song can involve both the rights in the composition and lyrics and the separate rights associated with the sound recording and its performers.

The Dream Music Solution

Dream Music provides its own closed music catalogue. The works, performances and recordings forming part of that catalogue are created and produced within its own rights structure, and Dream Music owns or controls the economic rights required to license their use through written agreements with the relevant right holders.

The legal basis is clear:

A Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 – sections 11 and 90

Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, the author is generally the first owner of copyright, subject to the exceptions provided by law. Copyright may subsequently be assigned, and section 90 requires an assignment to be in writing and signed by or on behalf of the person assigning it. Dream Music therefore relies on written agreements establishing the chain of title and the rights it is authorised to exploit and license in its catalogue.


B Direct licensing and collective management

UK collective management organisations and licensing bodies license rights on behalf of the right holders they represent. Where the relevant rights are controlled directly by another right holder and have not been placed within the represented repertoire, permission may instead be obtained from the party that actually controls those rights. The decisive question is therefore which repertoire and which rights a licensing body is legally authorised to represent.


C International framework

UK copyright and performers' rights also operate within an international framework. The Berne Convention protects authors' rights in the public performance and communication of musical works, while the Rome Convention and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty recognise rights of performers and phonogram producers. These international rules are reflected in the rights protected by UK copyright legislation.


D.1 Music outside another licensing body's represented repertoire

A licensing body licenses the rights that it is entitled to administer on behalf of right holders. It does not acquire ownership of every piece of music simply because that music is played in public. Where Dream Music controls the relevant copyright in a work or sound recording and those rights have not been entrusted to another licensing body, Dream Music can grant the appropriate licence directly, subject to the rights and statutory rules applicable to the particular use.


D.2 An important distinction: performers' equitable remuneration

Ownership of the copyright in a sound recording does not automatically extinguish every separate right of the performers appearing on it. Under UK law, performers may have a statutory right to equitable remuneration when a commercially published sound recording containing their performance is broadcast or played in public. Dream Music's direct licence therefore covers the rights that it owns or is legally entitled to license, while any separate statutory remuneration right must be treated in accordance with UK law.