Sony PlayStation game music licence update

We recently agreed a new licence with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe for the use of copyright music within games and games related content downloaded across Europe. Read the full story in our August newsletter.

What does the licence cover?

Music in games downloaded from the Sony PlayStation Store in the UK, Republic of Ireland and other European territories* from February 2007 to December 2013. The European territories are licenced for Anglo-American repertoire only (see below for a full list of territories covered).

What is meant by Anglo-American repertoire?

Anglo American repertoire is written by members of the following societies: PRS for Music, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, SOCAN, IMRO, APRA and SAMRO.

Which territories are covered?

*The full list of territories covered in the licence is UK, Republic of Ireland Eire, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

How does this affect me?

If the below applies to you, then you may be eligible for payment in line with our distribution policy.

• Has your music been used in a game/s downloaded from the Sony PlayStation store?
• Was the PlayStation store in one of the European territories listed above*?
• Were your works used between February 2007 and December 2013?

What do I need to do?

1. Register your works
   As always please remember to register all your works with us to ensure we can distribute the correct royalties due to you. You will need to register every individual piece of music used in the games separately including all cues.
2. Submit your usage details and supporting evidence
   We are inviting members who ticked yes to all three options above to submit any claims from 15 December. We need your usage details and any supporting evidence to help us correctly assign royalties.

How do I submit usage details and supporting evidence?

Please follow these simple steps:

1. Download and fill in the cue sheet for your games music.
2. Please ensure that the titles in your cue sheet match the titles of your work registrations.
3. Email the completed forms to searchcuesheets@prsformusic.com with GAMES MUSIC in the email subject box.
4. Remember to submit supporting evidence when making a claim. This could include (but is not limited to) a contract, commissioning request or relevant web link.

When will these royalties be distributed?

We will be making a distribution of the royalties we have identified to date for music used in computer games in December 2014. Royalties will be held back to cover those instances where we have not yet been able to identify the repertoire within games. Works that we have matched since then will be included in future distributions.

This licence only covers 2007-2013. What about music used in games released in 2014?

We are currently in negotiations with Sony for a 2014 licence. Until these negotiations are complete, royalties will only be available for music used in downloaded games from 2007-2013.

Does the licence just cover music used in games? What about music downloaded for Singstar?

The licence is restricted to gaming content only. It specifically excludes karaoke or general entertainment content (which are licensed under separate schemes).

I have music used in Xbox games. Should I make a claim?

No. This is the first time PRS for Music has licensed the performing right in game downloads from an online store. Our licensing team are currently in negotiations with other games industry leaders working towards similar deals.

Will the mechanical royalties be distributed in December?

Mechanical and synchronisation rights are usually cleared directly with publishers and commissioned writers (typically, MCPS does not have the mandate to license computer games). This means the licence only covers the performing right.

I received a royalty but my co-writer did not.

Members’ repertoire controlled by some affiliate societies may not be covered by the licence terms. The PRS licence only covers the Anglo-American share of works where they were downloaded in European territories.