Club boss told to get music licence

Vibez 924 nightclub exterior..

ONE of Oldham's night clubs will be silent until they bring their music licences up to date the high court has ruled.

A ruling from London's High Court slapped Vibez 924 proprietor Henry Okere with £2063 legal costs and banned the venue from playing music until the licences are brought up to date after the club was found guilty of illegally playing recorded tracks at its premises.

The court heard that Okere was caught playing copyrighted music at the club when he didn't have a licence from music royalties collectors Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL).

Okere was ordered to pay the legal costs by November 24 with the ban extending to any other premises he runs until his licence is brought up to date and failure to do so could even see him face imprisonment.

Visited

The ban applies to all forms of mechanically recorded music such as records, tapes and CDs in PPL's repertoire.

Okere was caught after a PPL inspector visited the premises on December 12 last year and heard music playing which included tracks Hotel, Be Faithful and Like Glue.

PPL's lawyers said that letters were sent to the premises informing Okere of the nature and extent of PPL's repertoire and the fact that the playing in public of sound recordings without PPL's permission constitutes an infringement of its copyright and invited him to acquire a licence.

Christine Geissmar, operations director, PPL said: "There is an intrinsic value that recorded music adds to businesses, and this judgement acknowledges that the performers of the music and record companies should be fairly rewarded.

"Businesses that choose to play recorded music without a licence may face legal action and financial and other consequences as a result.

"Legal action is only ever sought as a last resort where a business continues to play music following repeated attempts from PPL to get the correct licensing in place."

She said: "PPL issues licences to hundreds of thousands of businesses and organisations across the UK when they play recorded music to their staff or customers.

"Licensees include bars, nightclubs, shops, hotels, offices, factories, gyms, schools, universities and public sector organisations up and down the country.

"After the deduction of PPL's running costs, all licence fee income is distributed to PPL's record company and performer members.

"The majority are small businesses, all of whom are legally entitled to be fairly paid for the use of their recordings and performances. PPL does not retain a profit for its services."

The Chronicle were unable to make contact with Henry Okere for a comment.