The risks of unlicensed small scale streaming in the UK

[JamesAllen]

Hi guys,

 

I could really do with some opinions on some streaming a friend of mine is currently doing on a small scale here in the UK.

 

He is basically running a small station that only broadcasts at certain times in the week - Friday afternoon / early evening and maybe a few shows in the week, a few hours at a time. He only has a single 128kbs stream via a standard Shoutcast provider. He usually has between 5-20 listeners.

 

It is mainly promoted via Twitter but he recently set up a blog and has been posting his show recordings and streaming them as mp3's.

 

Now the problem as I see it is he hasn't got a license and I know that to be legal he needs one from the PPL etc. As this is a very small scale non-commercial, essentially hobbyist station (though I know that makes no difference legally) he can't afford to pay the fees.

 

My question is, what happens if he gets caught? Would he simply be warned to take the site down and stop streaming or is there a high chance he could be fined a lot of money to cover back royalties? Has anyone got experience of this?

 

Also, is the fact that he puts recorded shows up for download making things even riskier?

 

I want to look out for my friend as I don't want him to get into serious trouble so wanted to find out what the risks are then advise him. Obviously he should be licensed but I am interested to hear what has happened to other's in this kind of situation and whether as a bare minimum he should not post the recordings of the shows.

 

Any advice / insight would be greatly appreciated.

[billh]

I don't know the laws there but.

 

If he wants to stay out of trouble. Tell him to play Creative Commons music. If he's letting people download the shows he can put them out as Podcast. He can check this site for music.

 

http://dig.ccmixter.org/podcast_music?dig-query=guitar%20acoustic

 

It's the only thing I can think of to stay out of trouble. I don't see any reason why, he or anyone would want to find out, "What will happen if they get caught".

[JamesAllen]

I don't know the laws there but.

 

If he wants to stay out of trouble. Tell him to play Creative Commons music. If he's letting people download the shows he can put them out as Podcast. He can check this site for music.

 

http://dig.ccmixter.org/podcast_music?dig-query=guitar%20acoustic

 

It's the only thing I can think of to stay out of trouble. I don't see any reason why, he or anyone would want to find out, "What will happen if they get caught".

 

No you do make a very good point. It was more to be armed with the facts about the risks really especially in terms of what he has done to date and what could have already been set in motion - if that makes sense.

 

I have advised him to look into this very carefully.

[billh]

ok, I see what you mean. I was thinking of away to stay out of trouble. As for the work he's done so far. I'm sure if they find out, he will have to pay fines and who knows what else. I'm sure someone else on BW knows the laws and what can happen.

[jamesdean]

Try web radio world

There service includes PPL/PRS fees, all details on their site, he can get a stream from them at a reasonable cost which covers it all. They are the only provider in the UK (that I know of) that do this.

 

Many internet stations stream from and into the UK and are not licensed, many get away with it also, it's up to the individual what they do as long as they know the risks. Pirate stations have been running for years, terrestrial and internet and they always will. However to stay legal go to the above site.

[JamesAllen]

Try web radio world

There service includes PPL/PRS fees, all details on their site, he can get a stream from them at a reasonable cost which covers it all. They are the only provider in the UK (that I know of) that do this.

 

Many internet stations stream from and into the UK and are not licensed, many get away with it also, it's up to the individual what they do as long as they know the risks. Pirate stations have been running for years, terrestrial and internet and they always will. However to stay legal go to the above site.

 

Thanks James. Funnily enough I came across that service earlier and saw them mentioned on a few forums. The only thing that put me off was how awful and amateurish their website is. Doesn't look like it could provide the type of service it obviously does.

This is definitely a good option by the looks of it though.

So these guys are proven and it's all above board?

 

Any idea what happens to the small unlicensed stations that do risk it? Is it a case of a warning or any idea if people - even the small fish - get fined fairly regularly?

[jamesdean]

I have only heard of one UK station that got an email telling them they had to get licenced from PPL (they sent the email) if they was to continue streaming. The station decided to stop streaming and that was the end of it.

[JamesAllen]

I have only heard of one UK station that got an email telling them they had to get licenced from PPL (they sent the email) if they was to continue streaming. The station decided to stop streaming and that was the end of it.

 

That's good to know - thanks. Sounds like it's probably a lot of expense to go down the reclaiming royalties route - especially for small stations.

[MixStream.net]

I don't think they'd try to claim past royalties, because then they'd have to prove how long you've been streaming for it to stand up in court.

[mattskills]

Thanks James. Funnily enough I came across that service earlier and saw them mentioned on a few forums. The only thing that put me off was how awful and amateurish their website is. Doesn't look like it could provide the type of service it obviously does.

This is definitely a good option by the looks of it though.

So these guys are proven and it's all above board?

 

Any idea what happens to the small unlicensed stations that do risk it? Is it a case of a warning or any idea if people - even the small fish - get fined fairly regularly?

 

I agree their website is complete rubbish... however their service is unique and valuable to small webcasters who can't afford the upfront costs of applying for a ppl license. You don't have to worry about how many songs you play or indeed logging them and calculating listening hours etc. I recently recieved an email from ppl asking me to prove i had a license , so don't think that because it's small scale, they'll never find you, as there are people who will make reports just to spite you.

 

I don't how much profit wrw generates but maybe one day they'll invest in their website to give people the confidence to use their service, but i guess i'd prefer them to invest in keeping the service going.

 

Hope that helps.

Matt

[JamesAllen]

Thanks Matt - some very good points. I like how wrw make it nice and easy to broadcast without auditing hassles etc.

 

Regarding the email you got, I assume that if you hadn't been licensed it would just be a case of stopping broadcasting? I.E. Nothing more would come of it?

[mattskills]

Thanks Matt - some very good points. I like how wrw make it nice and easy to broadcast without auditing hassles etc.

 

Regarding the email you got, I assume that if you hadn't been licensed it would just be a case of stopping broadcasting? I.E. Nothing more would come of it?

 

I guess that would be the case.

 

I couldn't care about paying for royalties really , the only reason i pay for it is so i can give the middle finger to any netwarrior that visits my site yapping on about it being illegal. At the end of the day it comes down to your own judgement and if it is worth it for you.