One of the more charged moments at yesterday’s Music 45 collective licensing conference in London came when Clintons lawyer Tom Frederikse leapt to his feet for what he described as a ‘J’accuse moment’, aimed at PRS for Music’s Frances Lowe. Frederikse highlighted the fact that major publishers took their mechanical rights out of PRS two years ago, and went on the attack. “Now, it transpires that PRS is allowing their performing rights to go out of the door as well,” he claimed. “Why is PRS allowing that to happen when they own those rights? You’re causing fragmentation and making it more difficult!” Lowe was measured in her response – “It’s not odd that we are contracting with partners” – while former PRS man Jez Bell (now at Omnifone) suggested that the performing rights pullouts are partly fuelled by the demand of music services to be able to license mechanical and performance rights together. Expect to hear more on this issue in the weeks ahead. Source: Music Ally Blog
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