Limited manufacture
The LM licence
The Limited Manufacture (LM) licence is quick, affordable and grants you ‘blanket’ permission to legally use any music in your own CDs, DVDs or videos (and other formats) – that’s any music, from any genre, by any artist including the names, from Elvis, The Beatles to Adele and Ed Sheeran.
With one simple transaction, you can easily licence up to 1000 copies of an individual product you are making. Whether you’re an amateur or a professional, intending to sell or give away your CDs or DVDs yourself, we guarantee to distribute the collected money among our songwriter and composer members.
The LM licence covers
- The copyright in the musical work (MCPS)
- The copyright in the sound recording (PPL)
The LM licence is...
- Perfect for wedding, christening, funeral and family holiday videos
- Ideal for signed or unsigned band, choir and orchestra CDs
- Suitable for DVDs of school plays, amateur dramatics, voluntary or non-registered charities and community projects
- NOT suitable for individuals looking to make and sell compilation samplers containing any music owned by 3rd party publishers and record labels. For audio-only releases like this, an Audio Product Licence (AP2) is required. Sound recording (master) rights must be cleared with the record labels additionally.
It would even be the right choice for the work of amateur, non-professional and student filmmakers.
How much does it cost?
The LM licence has a capped limit of 250 units for PPL sound recordings. If you want to license more than 250 units including the sound recordings, a PPL authorisation code is required which is subject to approval from the PPL. To request a PPL authorisation code, please email PPL. For all general limited manufacture queries, please email - applications@prsformusic.com.
MCPS-only rates (from April 2023)
Number of copies |
<25mins music | >25mins music |
|---|---|---|
1-5 |
£7.53 |
£12.06 |
6-20 |
£20.10 |
£32.16 |
21-50 |
£27.15 |
£42.21 |
51-100 |
£40.21 |
£64.34 |
101-250 |
£70.36 |
£100.53 |
251-500 |
£100.53 |
£160.84 |
501-1,000 |
£201.05 |
£321.68 |
MCPS-PPL joint rates (from April 2023)
| Number of copies | <25mins music | >25mins music |
|---|---|---|
1-5 |
£15.09 |
£24.12 |
6-20 |
£40.21 |
£64.34 |
21-50 |
£54.28 |
£84.44 |
51-100 |
£80.42 |
£128.68 |
101-250 |
£140.74 |
£201.05 |
251-500 |
N/A |
N/A |
501-1,000 |
N/A | N/A |
Includes:
The following uses ARE covered by the licence:
Educational establishments, tutors and students
Recordings of student performances for sale or giving away to students, family, friends or to raise funds for the school or recordings solely used for the giving and receiving of tuition or student films that are shown only as part of the students’ course work, educational assessment, student competitions and the students’ personal portfolio.
Recordings of choirs or other services for sale or giving away to members of the congregation, family, friends or to raise funds for the church, or institutions of other religious denominations.
– includes wedding videography and funeral service
Recordings of private events such as: weddings, christenings, bar mitzvahs, family holidays and funerals, which are sold or given away to family and friends associated with that event or recordings made for playing at private events such as: weddings, christenings, bar mitzvahs, family holidays and funerals or copies of existing films or recordings transferred from video (e.g. VHS) or audio (e.g. CD) formats to other physical formats (e.g. DVD-Video) solely for private and domestic use by the owner of the original version, their friends or family.
Recordings made for playing and showing only as part of the practicing, participating and competing in recognised amateur society activities, including: musical gymnastics, horse dressage, synchronized swimming, amateur dramatics and amateur film making.
Recordings of community projects music or otherwise, funded by non-business entities and supported entirely by voluntary contributions and voluntary workers, which are sold or given away to members of the community, friends and family.
Recordings made by non-record company affiliated musicians that are sold directly to audiences, family or friends, including amateur orchestras, singers and bands.
Excludes:
The following ARE NOT covered by the licence:
Any recordings produced by record companies using a third party distributor.
Any professionally made films, any film made with the aid of corporate sponsorship or any films exploited by means of a restricted or general release.
Any recordings or copies of recordings that are sponsored, paid for, or used as any form of incentive or advertisement to purchase or acquire products or services of any form that relate to any form of corporate company or entity and any corporate training videos or any other forms of recordings used in-house or in a business to business capacity by any form of corporate company or entity.
Any charity that employs on a PAYE basis and is anything other than described in the inclusions above.
What rights and formats are covered under the licence?
The LM licence may not cover all the rights that you might need to produce and distribute your product. For example, if you are using 'dramatic music' on your product (such as a ballet, musical or opera), you will need to secure the grand rights directly from the owner of those rights before licensing the musical work with MCPS.
If you are recording a performance using orchestral/vocal material music hired from a publisher, you will also need to secure prior permission.
