PPL/PRS and TheMusicLicence for morris and related activities
PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited) licenses radio stations, TV broadcasters and certain digital media services to play recorded music in the UK as part of their programming. They also license music suppliers to copy recorded music for services such as in-store music systems, jukeboxes, compilations for exercise classes and in-flight entertainment systems. See: https://www.ppluk.com/what-we-do/
PRS (Performing Right Society) deals with Live Music Licencing. See: https://www.prsformusic.com/what-we-do/prs-and-mcps
PPL PRS Ltd launched a joint licence called TheMusicLicence, to play or perform music in public.
Each venue should have its own PRL/PRS license and the organisers may ask you to fill out a PRS form, detailing all the tunes you played, their authors/arrangers, etc.
As our activities do not conform to the typical model used by PPL PRS Ltd, we negotiated a covering licence for our activities in 2002. Our licence number is 197270, registered to the Joint Morris Organisations, and it is renewed at the end of each year. All member teams are covered by this licence for live music in public.
Please be aware that our licence covers the performing of Music for Morris Dance and related activities for our membership, but will not cover a band playing at the same event even if it is part of the event.
Traditional Tunes and Arrangements
Copyright law states that if you write down a traditional song / tune, this transcription becomes a copyright work. The copyright lies in the transcription and not in the traditional song / tune.
This means the transcription is copyright. It may not be copied, reproduced, published, publicly performed or adapted unless permission is obtained from the transcriber. However, this does not prevent people from transcribing from the same source. By doing this they create their own copyright – even if their transcription is note for note the same as an existing transcription. See: https://www.prsformusic.com/works/arranging-and-sampling-works
Further information
Further information (including FAQs) can be found on these 2 websites:
Last updated: June 2024
