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Thoughts on PPL digital Dj licencing

Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 11:58 pm
by the PLA
PPL Licencing only applies to UK Dj's who play MP3's. The licence will cost you £240 per year & venus you play at can be fined if you don't have one.

Here's the site http://www.ppluk.com/

& Here's some cut & pasted highlights
Dubbing obligations
3.1 The Licensee hereby warrants, represents and undertakes that it shall:
(1) Dub each Track in its entirety provided that the Fade-down Section of any Track may be subject to the use of premature fade and cross-faded or overlapped with the Track following immediately thereafter provided that the period of audible cross fade or overlap does not exceed 2 (two) seconds;
(2) not Dub Tracks in such a way as to accelerate the rate of the Fade-up Section at the commencement of any Track;
(3) Dub Tracks so that all reproductions of Sound Recordings on a DJ Database or Back-up Database will be of sufficient technical standard so that the quality of the original Sound Recording is reasonably preserved for any person listening to the Service;
(4) not mix, remix, Segue, edit, change or otherwise manipulate the sounds of any Sound Recording so that the sounds on the Dubbed copy of the Sound Recording are different from those on the original Sound Recording
(5) comply with PPL’s guidelines from time to time issued in relation to devices holding copies of Sound Recordings and in particular as to the security of such copies; and
(6) ensure that all Dubbing of Sound Recordings shall be undertaken by the Licensee only.

What information do I have to provide to PPL?
You will be required to given certain information to PPL if requested to do so by PPL. You may be required to give PPL a list of all the tracks that you have on your DJ Database at a particular time and a list of the tracks that have copied during a particular period.
You also may be required to tell PPL what venues you have performed at. This enables PPL to check that the venues are reporting correctly to PPL themselves and that they are only using DJs who have legitimate databases of sound recordings.
Finally, you also may be required to provide PPL with a playlist of the tracks that you play at a particular event.

Can PPL inspect my computer?
PPL will have the right to inspect the DJ Database and Back-up Database.

What happens when the licence is terminated?
Depending upon the reason for the termination, you may be able to obtain a further licence, in which case you will be able to keep all the sound recordings on the DJ Database and the Back-up Database. If a new licence is not granted, you will have to delete all the sound recordings on the DJ Database that were not acquired by way of lawful downloads (and you will not be able use the remaining sound recordings for public performances). You also will have to delete all the sound recordings on the Back-up Database.

The DJ Database is the name given to the storage unit for a DJ’s collection of digital copies of sound recordings. For most DJs, this is likely to be a laptop computer. The Digital DJ Licence requires the DJ Database to consist of a computer or hard disk unit unless agreed otherwise with PPL.

Please note however that when PPL introduces DRM requirements whatever computer or hard disk unit you are using will need to be compatible with those requirements.

This scares the hell out of me. If they can get the ball rolling on this over there I'm sure I'll see a version of it here in the US as well. According to their press release they consulted "hundreds" DJs, venues, DJ equipment manufacturers, DJ shops, DJ associations and DJ magazines. I'd love to know which Dj's thought this was a good idea.

Re: Thoughts on PPL digital Dj licencing

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 7:09 am
by hippy dave
christ. reading that makes it sound like it will be illegal to be an actual dj who, y'know, actually does stuff, like mix tunes, rather than a wedding reception dj. i found this in the faq tho:
Does the licence allow me to create mixes?
All that the Digital DJ Licence allows you to do is copy onto, and store on, the DJ Database (and Back-up Database) sound recordings in their original form (that is, the version that you downloaded or that was on the record that purchased from the shop). You are not entitled to edit or alter the track (including combining two or more tracks to create a new track).

This does not stop you creating a mix from different tracks when you are performing as a DJ. However, neither you nor anyone else will be able to record this mix.
...which just about allows for conventional djing. no good for chucking sections of tracks about in ableton etc tho. obviously bootleg remixes/mashups are out too, but would they be any fun if they were legal? :lol:

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 7:14 am
by hippy dave
...ffs, since i wrote "wedding reception dj" i've had f%cking "come on eileen" stuck in my head :evil: