Phil Little, Hamish Birchall, John King and Charlotte Collingwood
with Lord Clement-Jones
The
Live Music Forum Handy Guide to The Live Music Act
When the Live Music Act comes into
force, which is expected to be 1st October 2012:
Any venue that qualifies as a 'workplace' for the purpose of
health and safety legislation will be free to host live music
between 8am and 11pm. For amplified live music there is an
audience limit of 200. There is no audience limit for unamplified
live music.
This exemption also applies to pub and bars, indeed any venue
which already has a Premises Licence issued under the Licensing
Act 2003. There will be no restriction on the number of musicians
allowed to perform. Indeed, most licence conditions relating to
live music will be suspended if the performance is between 8am and
11pm. There will be a few cases where conditions continue to apply
if they were imposed following a licence review. (Expert legal
advice may be required in such circumstances).
Importantly, the Live Music Act does away with the requirement to
license 'entertainment facilities'. The unlicensed provision of a
piano or other instruments or equipment for use in performances
will no longer be a potential criminal offence. The Live Music Act
also further amends the Licensing Act to allow amplified music to
accompany the performance of Morris dancing, or dancing of similar
nature."
Copyright - Any venue presenting live music which includes copyrighted titles (standards/covers or originals which are registered with PRS/PPL) will require licenses from PRS and PPL. An existing PRS/PPL license for recorded music is not sufficient. If in doubt about about your license, please check.
Busking - Although busking is
exempt from licensing under the Live Music Act (subject to the
8am-11pm period and 200 audience limit for amplification), there
may be scenarios whereby councils could try to move buskers on
citing byelaws, perhaps relating to the collection of money. So,
we recommend that musicians check with the local council for the
area where they intend to perform.
Dance - The Live Music Act
exemptions only apply to performances of live music.
Performances of dance remain licensable. However, it might
be possible to argue that some dancing genres are similar to
Morris dancing (folk dancing essentially), and thereby benefit
from the only dancing exemption within the Licensing Act.
Please note; this information is
not legal advice and, if in doubt about the effect on a particular
gig, such advice should be sought from a specialist licensing
lawyer.
The Live Music Forum
Wednesday 28th March 2012 - A Handy Guide To The Live Music Act
Friday 27th January 2012 - Live music reform in time for Olympics ?
Friday 20th January 2012 - Live Music Bill passes Report stage
