Paying for the radio

Playing the radio to her hair salon customers earned Maykam Temoni of Orewa a bill of more than $60 annually.

The unexpected bill was from the Australasian Performing Rights Association, an organisation she had never heard of before.

"I thought it was a joke," says Mrs Temoni who manages Majon Hair Salon. "I ignored it at first. I took it home to show my husband and when we received the second letter I thought what the heck is this."

The second letter asked her to pay the fee within 14 days or risk legal action.

"It wasn’t a huge amount, but we are already very tight on money this year," says Mrs Temoni.

Christies Jewellers and Muldoons Irish Bar are among the hundreds of retailers in Rodney receiving the association’s bills this Christmas.

The association is a non-profit organisation that is collecting fees on behalf of music creators in line with the Copyright Act 1994, section 16.

They say businesses playing copyright music, even from the radio, for the benefit of clients and staff are giving a public performance and require a licence.

"My husband is going to write back and say it is a waste of time us paying as we are closing on Christmas Eve and relocating to my home," says Mrs Temoni. "We would be doing the artists a favour because customers hear it and want to buy the CD, it works both ways."

Destination Orewa Beach’s Leanne Smith says she hasn’t heard of this type of licence before.

But the association says all its work is legal and every business environment playing music needs to get a licence.

"If people don’t pay they won’t be given a licence. We explain why they need it and their obligation under the Act," says association licensing services manager Greer Davies.

"If they are unwilling to get one we write or phone them. If that doesn’t work and they refuse to pay we will pass it on to our legal department. We work hard on why they should get a licence first.

"We have worked with the hairdressing association to put notifications in their magazine and inform them of the licence. We agreed to follow individual salons up and check where they are at."

Times FM operations manager Tom Gray says they pay association fees for a licence, but individual businesses have to as well.

"It is definitely legitimate. It’s another way artists can get paid for what they do. The association has just started to enforce it a lot harder now," says Mr Gray.

A former owner of Muldoons Irish Bar in Orewa, Les King, received a bill from the association in 1999.

"I have previously played in bands so I knew what it was, but it did come as a surprise. I resisted paying for a while as I argued I was playing Irish music," says Mr King.

"It’s not very fair on a whole lot of people, but I have friends that are songwriters and they deserve the royalties.

"They came in pretty heavy-handed with me and I was the only one in Orewa they picked on back then," Mr King says.

"I didn’t have objections to paying it, but I wanted to know where it was going and how it would be distributed."

The association says fees are distributed according to music played on the radio, TV and other data they sample.

"It is envisaged the majority of music played in bars, restaurants, retail shops will be similar to the music being played on the radio," their website says.

"Hairdressers and other retailers will have to start singing their own songs to customers," says Mr King.

For information visit www.apra.co.nz.

• The Copyright Act in New Zealand states all public performances of music require the permission of the copyright owner. The courts have determined that music played in a shop by way of radio is a performance that requires a licence.

• There are two copyrights in any recording. First is the copyright in the song, the composition and or lyrics. Licence fees go to songwriters and their publishers. Second is the copyright in the recorded version of the work, enforced by Phonographic Performances New Zealand which grants licences for the broadcast and public performance of recordings. Fees go to record labels and recording artists.

• Fees start at the ‘cheap’ end of $60.80 a year for a 0-149 square metre building using one device to play radio or TV, to the highest price of $1,212.37 for a 2000-4999 square metre building playing five or more devices.

• APRA says about 87 cents in every dollar collected in licence fees is returned to the music copyright owners.

- © Fairfax NZ News