LONDON — Scottish indie rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain and Robert Fripp, founding member of British prog rock outfit King Crimson, are among a group of musicians and songwriters who have filed a joint lawsuit against British collective PRS for Music over the way licenses and manages their live performance rights, accusing the organization of a “lack of transparency” and “absurd” terms for its members.
According to legal documents filed at the High Court in London, which have been reviewed by Advertising signthe 10 plaintiffs are suing PRS for Music for damages arising from what they describe as “unnecessary contractual requirements and practices.”
These include the PRS putting up a series of “unreasonable” barriers to members wishing to withdraw live public performance rights and instead entering into their own direct licensing deals with promoters, venues or festivals, lawyers say.
The plaintiffs also accuse PRS for Music – which represents the rights of more than 160,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers – of charging higher management fees for smaller acts than some of its most popular and profitable songwriter members, creating a two tiered system where the most successful musicians are effectively subsidized by the rest of the PRS members.
Such preferential treatment runs counter to society's mandate as a collective management body, claimants say. As part of their legal action, they cite internal PRS evidence that, according to a spokesman, indicates that rights holders participating in the organisation's Major Live Concert Service — which handles rights management for acts playing venues with a capacity of more than 5,000 people — can pay an average management fee that stands at 0.2%, while the wider PRS membership pays 23%, roughly 115 times more proportionally.
The lawsuit further accuses PRS of intentionally withholding information from its members about deductions from their royalty income when their rights are internationally licensed. This lack of transparency means authors cannot make fully informed decisions about licensing their rights, say the plaintiffs' lawyers, who accuse the London-based collective management company of “not acting in accordance with [members’] interests”.
The lawsuit is being led by Pace Rights Management, a direct competitor of PRS for Music, which licenses and manages live performance rights for composers, lyricists, songwriters, publishers and other rights holders.
The 10 contenders also include five members of the band Haken. The founders and core duo of the Jesus and Mary Chain, Jim and William Reid. and Michael Jaksik, Fripps' King Crimson bandmate.
In a joint statement, the ten plaintiffs say the PRS has repeatedly refused to discuss or “engage constructively” with their complaints over a period of several years and accuse the society of “significantly departing from the principles on which it was founded 110 years ago. to the point where the organization's policies no longer appear to be working in the best interests of its members.”
“Unfortunately,” the plaintiffs' statement continues, “we are left with no choice but to seek redress through the courts. The ball is now firmly in PRS's court. Either they engage constructively with much-needed reforms to empower and benefit authors and publishers, or they continue to resist these necessary changes and try to defend the indefensible.”
“I have yet to be convinced that PRS is acting on behalf of members' interests,” Fripp added in a statement.
In response, PRS for Music said it “fundamentally” rejects the allegations and will “vigorously defend the society against these allegations”.
“PRS for Music has consistently pursued constructive dialogue with PACE for many years, proposing and implementing solutions to the issues raised,” the organization said in a statement, which accused PACE of not working with PRS to find a solution.
“This has had the effect of unnecessarily withholding rights from PRS members to perform their works live at concerts and has also created complexity and uncertainty for live music venues and promoters,” the society responded.
Referring to the terms of the Major Live Concert Service (MLCS), PRS said the initiative was “just one part of a wide range of services” it provides to members at various stages of their careers, including songwriting camps, mentoring and touring programs and grants hardship for new acts. Last year, the organization paid out £943 million in royalties to its members.
“Given PRS for Music's sincere efforts to engage constructively, it is disappointing that PACE has taken the step of issuing proceedings against us,” PRS for Music said.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/jesus-mary-chain-robert-fripp-lawsuit-prs-for-music/
