Self-administering public performances

As a PRS member, you have given us the performing rights in your works and this includes the live public performance right, but you can ask for this right back if you wish. You can make this request by work and by live performance (e.g. concerts, tours).

What does administering your own live public performance right entail?

If you ask for your live public performance right back, you may wish to consider the following:

You will be responsible for directly licensing, collecting and otherwise administering your live performances of your works that you have chosen to administer.
We will no longer carry out any licensing, collection or any other administration of those live performances and those works that you have chosen to administer.

Contact majorliveconcertservice@prsformusic.com if you wish to find out more about direct licensing / opting out from PRS for these purposes. Try to do so as far in advance of your first concert as possible, so we have enough time to answer your questions and so that you have enough time to make a request.

We will only process a request for a particular concert where we have received all of the necessary paperwork at least 20 working days before that concert – this means that if you do not submit your request and/or the necessary paperwork on time, we will not be able to include that concert in the copyright assignment issued to you which will mean you cannot directly license, collect or otherwise administer that concert.

Once we have confirmed we have received the correct paperwork, we will issue a copyright assignment to you which enables you to directly license, collect or otherwise administer the works and concerts listed in that assignment.

You can also find further information in Article 7(g) of the PRS Memorandum and Articles of Association and Rule 13 of the PRS Rules and Regulations on our Corporate information page and the supporting Explanatory Notes and FAQ.

Before you decide to administer these rights yourself, make sure you consider the following questions:

Can I appoint another person to administer my rights?

Yes. You do not personally have to administer your rights (or ask another CMO to administer them on your behalf).

I’m unsure if this will be right for me, can I speak to someone?

If you’re unsure if opting out achieves what you need, please contact our team on majorliveconcertservice@prsformusic.com so they can look at your individual case.

Can you assign to me rights owned by another PRS member?

We can only assign to you your rights. We cannot assign to you any other person’s rights or works.

I’m a member of another society. Which process should I follow?

If you are a member of another society, you are bound by that society’s rules for rights withdrawals (which may be different to those of PRS), and you should follow that society’s procedures. Please seek advice from that society directly.

Can I administer rights for other people?

You can only administer another person’s rights or works if you have been officially appointed by them and, if they are a member of PRS, they have validly withdrawn their rights.

What if the performance includes a support act?

We can only assign to you your rights. The other rights owners can however request to opt out separately for their rights and works.

What if the performance's setlist has co-written works/covers?

As per the above, we can only assign to you your rights. The other rights owners can however request to opt out separately for their rights and works.

Other rights owners are members of another CMO. Can they opt out?

They will have to check with their CMO (Collective Management Organisation) to see if they offer an equivalent mechanism to allow them to administer their own rights as well.

The other rights owners can’t/won’t opt out. Is that a problem?

It shouldn’t be a problem for your own rights and works. However, if you’d like to discuss the specifics, please contact majorliveconcertservice@prsformusic.com.

My works are published. Do I need to let my publisher know?

Yes, please speak with your publisher as you are likely to need their consent to opt out based on your agreements with them (e.g. if your publisher has an exclusive interest in your works or is entitled to a share of revenue arising from exploitation of them).

What about overseas performances?

You can ask PRS for an assignment of your live concert rights for any territory in which you intend to directly license the performance of your works.

After we have assigned the live concert rights to you, you will be the owner of those rights for the concerts and territories listed in your assignment document. This means that, amongst other things, those rights will be excluded from the scope of PRS’s representation agreement with the local CMO.

In most cases, this will enable you to directly license your live concert rights in the relevant territories or appoint an agent to do so on your behalf. However, this may not be the case for every territory in which you intend to tour. Therefore, if you are considering asking PRS for an assignment for any territories outside of the UK, we recommend that you first obtain independent professional advice as to whether under the laws of that territory you will be able to directly license the live concert rights in your works. For example, you may find that you cannot do so because (unlike the position in the UK):

the licensing of musical works at concerts in the territory is subject to mandatory or compulsory collective licensing (“CCL”). This means that by law only the local CMO is mandated to manage live concert rights and you will have to claim royalties directly from that entity
the licensing of musical works at concerts in the territory is subject to extended collective licensing (“ECL”). This means that by law, the local CMO is authorised to license live concert rights in the works of non-members unless the right holder has opted out of the ECL in accordance with local legal requirements. Unless you have followed those requirements and done so within prescribed deadlines, your concert performance will be licensed by the local CMO under its ECL scheme and you will have to claim royalties directly from that entity.
Under the copyright laws of that territory, copyright shares cannot be licensed separately. Even if direct licensing is permitted, some CMOs will not recognise your direct licence if your co-writers (if any) and publishers have not also withdrawn their respective live concert rights in the works.

Examples of territories in which PRS understands the above restrictions may apply are Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Hungary and Mexico. This list may not be exhaustive, and the legal position may change in individual countries. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you make your own enquiries as soon as you start to plan your tour and before you apply to PRS for an assignment of your live concert rights for the territory. If you would prefer PRS to continue managing your rights in any territories to which CCL, ECL or other restrictions apply, you should exclude them from your application, as once we have assigned your rights back to you, we will not be able to mandate the relevant affiliated CMO to license the live concert rights on your behalf.

Even if you are permitted to license your concert(s) abroad, this may impact the distributions you otherwise would receive from the local CMO. Please contact us for more information by emailing majorliveconcertservice@prsformusic.com.

Is there a fee?

Yes. PRS charges a fee to cover the administrative costs associated with issuing the assignment to you and giving effect to that assignment in order to ensure that you benefit from your ownership of the rights in your works during your Tour (e.g. by notifying and confirming to UK venues and overseas CMOs that you have withdrawn the live concert rights in your works). The fee is £20 plus VAT per work for which you require the assignment, which we will deduct from next available distribution to you. If you jointly or co-wrote any of the works with another PRS member or members, the fee will be split between all of you if those members are also party to your application for the assignment.

So you’re going to administer your own live public performance rights. What’s next?

If you’re sure you want to administer your own rights for live public performances, you will need to complete steps 1 to 4 at least 20 working days before your first concert.

Formally notify us in writing of your request

We commit to processing your request without undue delay and within 20 working days, provided you have satisfied the requirements set out in steps 1 to 3.

Send us a completed Your Notified Details Form

Fill out this form and submit it to us at least 20 days before your first concert.

If you have any questions about how to complete this form, then you can refer to the example form below or speak to our team at majorliveconcertservice@prsformusic.com.

Contact your publisher

If you have a publisher, please contact them to inform them of your intention to administer your rights directly and to check with them that the terms of your publishing contract allow you to do this. As your publisher may have an interest in royalties collected for the concert, it is important that you obtain their consent to your application – once the rights have been validly assigned to you, PRS will no longer be entitled to collect royalties for the use of your works at the concert from out of which to make distributions to your publisher.

If you have any questions about this step, then please speak to your publisher or our team at majorliveconcertservice@prsformusic.com. You can also find further details at Explanatory Notes/FAQ.

We will then issue a copyright assignment to you and your publisher

You will be able to directly license, collect and otherwise administer those works and concerts listed within the copyright assignment.

The copyright assignment will be effective on and from the date that we issue it (i.e. it will not be retrospective, only forward looking).

We will deduct the administration fee from your next distribution

We will deduct an administration fee of £20 plus VAT per work from your next distribution. This fee is subject to review and any future changes will be communicated to members and updated here.

Please follow Steps 1 to 3 at the same time and by no later than 20 working days before your first concert. Please ensure that all information provided is accurate and complete.

We will only process a request where we have received all of the necessary paperwork at least 20 working days before a particular concert – this means that if you do not submit your request and/or the necessary paperwork on time, you will not be legally able to directly license, collect or otherwise administer the rights in the works for that concert.

If you have any questions regarding the process or the pros and cons of opting out from PRS for these purposes, please contact our team on majorliveconcertservice@prsformusic.com.

If you have any complaints about how we have handled this process, you can submit these formally using our Complaints procedure.

Submit your Notified Details Form

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