| At Alpha
Duplication we try to ensure our customers are legally covered for all
duplication work for audio material that we undertake. In most cases we
will require an MCPS licence giving us the relevant authorisation required
to reproduce your material. We also know that not all material is
registered with MCPS and as such we can discuss the legalities of that
situation on request.
We hold on file blank Application For
Licence forms provided by MCPS. Just ask and we can send through the forms
for you to complete prior to duplication taking place. Telephone (01494)
536646 for further information or e-mail: mcps@alpha-duplication.com
Below are a few introductory notes taken
from 'A Guide to the MCPS AP.2 Agreement'. For further information please
visit the MCPS web site at www.mcps.co.uk
or telephone (0208) 378 7744.
MCPS The Mechanical Copyright Protection
Society Limited
MCPS is owned by the Music Publishers'
Association and act on behalf of composer and publisher members. MCPS
negotiates agreements with those who wish to record music, ensuring the
copyright owners are rewarded for the use of their music. MCPS collect and
then distribute the 'mechanical' royalties which are generated from the
recording of music onto many different formats, including CD's, cassettes,
videos, audio visual and broadcast material.
Copyright - Why You Need A Licence
As soon as an original piece of music is
written or recorded, copyright protection begins. Among other things, this
means that the writer (or his/her publisher if they have one) has the
right to determine who can make recordings of their work and under what
terms.
These rights are enshrined in the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA). This Act gives copyright
owners certain exclusive rights:-
- To copy the work
- To issue copies of the work to the
public
- To perform, show or play the work in
public
- To broadcast the work or include it in a
cable programme service
- To make an adaptation of the work or do
any of the above in relation to an adaptation
Any person who does, or authorises another
to do any of these acts without consent from the copyright owner,
infringes copyright.
If anybody wishes to carry out and of the
restricted acts, they have to ask permission from the copyright owner.
This could be an extremely onerous procedure if the 'user' of the music
has to first of all find out who and where the owner is and then negotiate
permission to use the music and obtain the necessary mechanical licence on
an individual work-by-work basis.
Collecting Societies
However, copyright owners have grouped
together and formed collective organisations in order to licence their
music and to collect and distribute the subsequent royalties. By choosing
MCPS as their agent in this way, copyright owners have ensured that record
companies and other music users can get most, usually all, of the
mechanical licences they need from one single source. |
