PRS is facing a legal action from a group of songwriters led by Robert Fripp and Jim and William Reid of The Jesus And Mary Chain. The legal action is focused on how the organisation processes royalties from live events. The songwriters are accusing the PRS of charging high administration fees for smaller artists while offering better deals to bigger acts. They also want more power for music writers and publishers to direct-license their live performances without going through the PRS.
Direct licensing of live performances, claim the artists, would result in faster royalty payments, fewer deductions from royalty payments and more transparency. They also claim that the PRS is deliberately withholding information on the deductions from their royalty income.
The songwriters are joined in the legal action by PACE Rights Management, which is an organisation that grants global direct licenses for live public performance rights. In a statement, the group said that they were seeking redress through the courts after years of PRS refusal to deal with operational issues.
PRS, on the other hand, has said that it has offered solutions over the years … that PACE has failed to engage with. The organisation alleges that PACE’s failure to cooperate has led to royalties being withheld from artists unnecessarily, and has fostered complexity and uncertainty for live music venues and promoters
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