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Singer In Grocery Store Ordered To Pay Royalties
yog writes "An assistant at a grocery store in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, was ordered by the Performing Right Society (PRS) to obtain a performer's license and to pay royalties because she was informally singing popular songs while stocking groceries. The PRS later backed down and apologized. This after the same store had turned off the radio after a warning from the PRS. We have entered an era where music is no longer an art for all to enjoy, but rather a form of private property that must be regulated and taxed like alcohol. 'Music to the ears' has become 'dollars in the bank'."
What's next? Concise Oxford charging for words explained in the dictionary?
As much as I think this kind of enforcement is ridiculous, before we try to get rid of it we should try to put it to good use: someone needs to get the scientologists to start singing top hits as part of their 'religion'. That would create a (lawyer) fight I would pay to watch.
My webcomic
She's an old f'*k that sings, hence disturbing my personal belief of finding my true love while grocery-shopping.
In the fuits section.
While testing melons.
Juicy... melons ... garrrr ...
Just for this, I'm gonna download TWICE as many mp3 tonight to show those corporate FAT CATS they can't push around the little guy!
...the estate of John Cage to sue everyone all the time for unlicensed performance of 4'33"
The answer is yes. Soon everyone must wear brain scanners to make sure that every song you hear in your head is paid for. Also, if you inadvertently hear a song whether it's in a dream or from someone else's radio, the brain scanner will pick that up too and you must pay for that too. If you're pregnant, you must pay for each fetus. The deaf will be fitted with a recording devices so that they can pay for the songs they would have heard if they weren't deaf. If you die, you are required to pay for all the songs you hear in the afterlife with your remaining assets.
You meant "awful", not "aweful". I suppose the problem was that you didn't want to pay Concise Oxford?
I r si lolcat languge r cheep in futuar! lol moar invizubul spulling!
They're vastly overcompensating for lost revenues.
Too right, how many people would say "I was going to buy that music but now I can just go and listen to the guy stacking shelves in the grocery store to sing it instead"?
Listen to "Sean Locke's 15 minutes of misery" sometime. A radio comedy from the 1990s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1lGufUM7xM
One of the characters is a PRS dream come true. :)
much will depend on how much Clackmannanshire is willing to pay. The Coca Cola company has paid through the nose to give their beverages the highes ranking (the spell checker will recommend as a cheaper option over 'water') . If Clackmannanshire wants to have its name spelled correctly it'll cost them. Until then the spell checker will propose "somewhere near Edinburgh".