What does the PPCA blanket licence cover?

The blanket public performance licence which PPCA grants covers the very wide range of sound recordings that meet two criteria. First, the licensed sound recordings must be owned or controlled by copyright owners that are licensors to PPCA and second, the communication and / or public performance of the licensed sound recordings must be protected under Australian copyright law.

As to the first requirement, that the recording be owned or controlled by a PPCA licensor, you can check whether a particular copyright owner is a PPCA licensor by looking on the PPCA website at www.ppca.com.au/current_licensors.htm .  That web page also provides a click through to the list of labels controlled by PPCA licensors and covered by PPCA's blanket licence. PPCA licensors include all the major record companies and over 400 other copyright owners.

As to the second requirement, that the recording be protected under Australian copyright law, the law in this area is complex and there is no simple test for determining when a sound recording is protected under Australian copyright law.  PPCA is aware that some licensees are under the misapprehension that all US artist recordings are unprotected, and can therefore be played without the need for any licence. This is not correct, and in fact many recordings made by US artists are protected, because of the way that specific aspects of the way that specific aspects of the legal requirements are applied.

In general terms, copyright protection applies to the playing of a sound recording in public in Australia if that recording was made by a citizen, national or resident of, or body corporate incorporated in, a "protected" country. (Click here to see a current list of protected countries). The US is not a "protected" country at present, but as we explain here, that does not mean that all recordings by US artists or made in the US are necessarily unprotected under Australian copyright law.  

First, determining who "made" the recording (and hence where their base or residence is) can, in itself, be difficult.   Traditionally, the "maker" for most recordings was the record company.  However, following changes to the Copyright Act, on 1 January 2005, every performer contributing to a recording (including backing and session musicians) is also a "maker" of that recording, and if any of them are resident or nationals of protected countries, then the recording will be protected.

Quite apart from the nationality of the artists or the place of incorporation of the record company, copyright protection for public performance also applies if the recording was made in a "protected" country.  Some US artists, for example, have recorded outside the US, making those recordings protected.

In addition, overseas recordings may attract a period of interim protection following release, and may be protected (wherever they were made) from the date of first commercial release until the earlier of 7 weeks after release, or the date of release in Australia.

Putting these rules together and applying them to a specific sound recording is very difficult.  In order to determine whether a particular sound recording is protected or not the following information will be required:

• who "made" the recording, and if it was a record company, their place of incorporation;
• the place where the track was recorded (i.e. the location of the recording studio);
• the release date of the track, the country of first release and if released in Australia, the date of first release here; and
• the names of everyone who performed on the recordings and their citizenship or residency at the date the recording was made.

PPCA does not believe the law should be this complicated and difficult to apply, but of course PPCA has no control over copyright legislation. We can assure you that PPCA licences allow your business to avoid having to undertake any of this complex analysis of whether a recording is or is not a protected sound recording, as long as that recording is controlled by one of the many copyright owners that license their repertoire to PPCA.

PPCA urges anyone wishing to determine whether or not a particular recording is or is not protected to obtain their own independent legal advice.