34-499: The Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society ( MCPS ) is an organisation that collects royalties and protects rights for music publisher, song writer and composer members, when their music is reproduced, in any format – including online, physical and synchronised. The MCPS collects and pays royalties to members when their music is: The MPA Group owns and operates MCPS on behalf of over 30,000 music publisher, song writer and composer members. The Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society
68-502: A 10% reduction in commissions for all publisher, direct composer and songwriter members, effective Monday 1 August 2022. In other news for the organisation, Jackie Alway OBE, Executive VP of International Legal & Industry Affairs at Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) , was elected as the first woman to hold the role of Chairperson of MCPS in 2020. MCPS sponsors the AIM Awards and Production Music Awards. Production music
102-499: A date by which the commission must finish. Royal commissions are called to look into matters of great importance and usually controversy. These can be matters such as government structure, the treatment of minorities, events of considerable public concern or economic questions. Many royal commissions last many years and, often, a different government is left to respond to the findings. Royal commissions have been held in Australia at
136-680: A federal level since 1902. Royal commissions appointed by the Governor-General operate under the Royal Commissions Act 1902 passed by the Parliament of Australia in 1902. A defunct alternative is known as a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry. Royal commissions are the highest form of inquiry on matters of public importance. A royal commission is formally established by the Governor-General on behalf of
170-476: A few cases—compelling all government officials to aid in the execution of the commission. The results of royal commissions are published in reports, often massive, of findings containing policy recommendations. Due to the verbose nature of the titles of these formal documents they are commonly known by the name of the commission's chair. For example, the “Royal Commission into whether there has been corrupt or criminal conduct by any Western Australian Police Officer”
204-512: A focus with both management teams closely collaborating. Most recently in 2021, MCPS and PRS announced a new SLA effective until December 2025, assuring closer collaboration between MCPS and PRS in the best interests of publisher, song writer and composer members, while maintaining their shared value of customer-centricity. In 2021, MCPS delivered its highest distribution of royalties to publisher, song writer and composer members since 2012. Statutory accounts, published in 2021 show distributions for
238-621: A licence on the same day. For unpublished writers and new publishers, MCPS represents many of its members for sync, handling the process of negotiation, licensing and invoicing on their behalf. Copyright Act 1911 The Copyright Act 1911 ( 1 & 2 Geo. 5 . c. 46), also known as the Imperial Copyright Act 1911 , was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (UK) which received royal assent on 16 December 1911. The act established copyright law in
272-506: A specific list of exceptions carefully defines permitted uses of the copyrighted work. The 1911 Act formed the basis of UK copyright law and, as an imperial measure, formed the basis for copyright law in most of what were then British colonies and dominions . While many of these countries have had their own copyright law for a considerable number of years, most have followed the imperial model developed in 1911. Australia , Canada , India , New Zealand , Singapore and South Africa define
306-416: Is created by the head of state (the sovereign, or their representative in the form of a governor-general or governor) on the advice of the government and formally appointed by letters patent . In practice—unlike lesser forms of inquiry—once a commission has started the government cannot stop it. Consequently, governments are usually very careful about framing the terms of reference and generally include in them
340-410: Is produced primarily for synchronisation licensing purposes and provides users with an alternative to licensing commercially released music or commissioned music. MCPS offers production music written by professional song writers and composers which is pre-cleared for any type of usage. MCPS production music provides a library of tracks to choose from and an application process enabling customers to obtain
374-890: The British Empire . In 1912 an Order in Council extended the Copyright Act 1911 to Cyprus and the following territories: Bechuanaland , East Africa , The Gambia , the Gilbert and Ellice Islands , Northern Nigeria , the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast , Nyasaland , Northern Rhodesia , Southern Rhodesia , Sierra Leone , Somaliland , Southern Nigeria , the Solomon Islands , Swaziland , Uganda and Weihaiwei . The Copyright Act 1911
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#1732775430087408-768: The Channel Islands (except Jersey ) on 1 July 1912, in Jersey on 8 March 1913, and in the Isle of Man on 5 July 1912. The Copyright Act 1911 applied or extended to all parts of the British Empire . In India the act came into force on 30 October 1912 (with some modifications in terms of its application to Indian law enacted in 1914), in Burma (then a province of British India ) on 24 February 1914, in Papua on 1 February 1931, and all other British possessions on 1 July 1912. It
442-681: The Statute of Anne of 1710, which afforded copyright protection to books, other works were afforded copyright protection either through case law, as in the case of music, or through Acts of Parliament , as in the case of engravings, paintings, drawings and photographs, in legislation such as the Engraving Copyright Act 1734 and the Fine Arts Copyright Act 1862. The Copyright Act 1911 consolidated previous copyright statutes, and apart from some minor exceptions,
476-566: The United Kingdom , Australia , Canada , New Zealand , Norway , Malaysia , Mauritius and Saudi Arabia . In republics an equivalent entity may be termed a commission of inquiry . Such an inquiry has considerable powers, typically equivalent or greater than those of a judge but restricted to the terms of reference for which it was created. These powers may include subpoenaing witnesses, notably video evidences, taking evidence under oath and requesting documents. The commission
510-490: The 1911 Act as follows: The principal changes which the Act will effect upon the existing law may be briefly summarised — With the exception of provisions that were expressly restricted to the United Kingdom by the act, all provisions of the Copyright Act 1911 applied "throughout His Majesty's dominions" and self-governing dominions if enacted by the parliament of that dominion without modifications that were not necessary to adapt
544-529: The Commonwealth fair dealing exceptions, the fair use defence allows US courts to find that a defendant's use is fair and hence not an infringement of copyright, even though the use does not fall within the statutory list provided for in Section 107. Royal commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies . They have been held in
578-563: The Copyright Act 1911 repealed all previous copyright legislation and established a single statute covering all forms of copyright. The 1911 Act implemented the Berne Convention , which abolished the common law copyright in unpublished works and responded to technological developments by conferring copyright on a new type of works not mentioned in the Berne Convention, namely sound recordings . The 1911 Act abolished
612-558: The Courts had to apply the Act's definitions, which were centered on artistic works, or types of works not mentioned in it – for instance, phone books, newspapers, restaurant menus and even the codes of computer programs were legally deemed "books" for copyright purposes, regardless of their (usually nonexistent) artistic value. These "stretched-boundaries" definitions are maintained in the Copyright Law 5778–2007. The last country of
646-918: The Crown and on the advice of government Ministers. The government decides the terms of reference, provides the funding and appoints the commissioners, who are selected on the basis of their independence and qualifications. They are never serving politicians. Royal commissions are usually chaired by one or more notable figures. Because of their quasi-judicial powers the commissioners are often retired or serving judges. They usually involve research into an issue, consultations with experts both within and outside government and public consultations as well. The warrant may grant immense investigatory powers, including summoning witnesses under oath , offering of indemnities, seizing of documents and other evidence (sometimes including those normally protected, such as classified information ), holding hearings in camera if necessary and—in
680-521: The UK and the British Empire . The act amended existing UK copyright law , as recommended by a royal commission in 1878 and repealed all previous copyright legislation that had been in force in the UK. The act also implemented changes arising from the first revision of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works in 1908. The act came into force in the UK on 1 July 1912, in
714-574: The act "to the circumstances of the dominion". The Copyright Act 1911 was adapted to circumstances and enacted by the then self-governing dominions of Australia ( Copyright Act 1912 ), Newfoundland (Newfoundland Copyright Act 1912) and the Union of South Africa (Patents, Designs, Trade Marks and Copyright Act 1916). The Copyright Act 1911 also provided that the UK Secretary of State could certify copyright laws passed in any self-governing dominion if
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#1732775430087748-412: The act of publishing. The scope of copyright was further widened and producers of sound recordings were granted the exclusive right to prevent others reproducing their recordings, or playing them in public. The act provided that the copyright in literary, dramatic and music works could be infringed by the making of a film or other mechanical performance incorporating the copyrighted works. In Israel,
782-572: The bulk of amendments were made by the Knesset not to the 1911 Act itself, but to the 1924 Ordinance applying it, resulting in a situation in which the two legal instruments were in conflict – for instance, while the Act set a copyright term of 50 years after the author's death, the Ordinance set a term of 70. Because the Knesset did not amend the Act to respond to further technological developments,
816-479: The copyright legislation was “substantially identical” to those of the Copyright Act 1911. Though the Secretary of State could certify copyright law even if their provisions on copyright enforcement and the restriction on importation of works manufactured in “foreign countries” were not identical to that of the Copyright Act 1911. Such self-governing dominions were then treated as if the Copyright Act 1911 extended to
850-550: The former British Empire to repeal the 1911 Act was Myanmar, whose parliament ratified a new, unified copyright law on 24 May 2019, repealing both said Act as well as the Burma Merchandise Marks Act of 1889 and an outdated definition of "trademark" from the Burma Penal Code of 1861. British lawyer Evan James MacGillivray summarised the changes in the introduction of his annotated edition of
884-604: The limits on and exceptions to copyright by providing an exhaustive list of specifically defined exceptions. This "Commonwealth approach" to copyright is in contrast with that adopted in US copyright law . US copyright does contain a number of specific exceptions, as well as providing for a fair use defence in section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976 . The Section provides a list of illustrative example of uses under this defence, such as criticism, comment and research. In contrast to
918-461: The need for registration at the Stationers' Hall and provided that copyright is established upon the creation of a work. However, as the 1911 Act come into effect at different times in different countries of the British Empire , registration at Stationers' Hall continued to be required in some Commonwealth countries after 1911. The Act also stated that copyright arose in the act of creation, not
952-472: The rights of its members and collecting royalties for onward distribution to them. Since 2009 the alliance is known as PRS for Music . A restructuring of MCPS' partnership with PRS was announced in 2013, which introduced a series of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) between the companies. The first SLA, in place since 2013, laid the foundations for the new MCPS/PRS relationship, with PRS becoming MCPS’ outsourced service provider. More detailed data reporting became
986-445: The self-governing dominion. The Secretary of State certified the copyright laws of New Zealand (New Zealand Copyright Act 1913, certified April 1914) and Canada ( Copyright Act of Canada 1921, certified 1924). The Copyright Act 1911 also provided that “His Majesty may, by Order in Council, extend this Act to any territories under his protection and to Cyprus” and the act would then apply to these countries as if they were dominions of
1020-571: The trade association for music publishers in the UK, became the owners of MCPS in 1976 and remain so to this day. This union establishes MCPS as the only collection society which is publisher-led. MCPS co-formed the MCPS-PRS Alliance with the Performing Right Society Limited (PRS) in 1997 and developed the joint online licence in 2002, aiming to encourage the growth of digital music services, while protecting
1054-432: The year ended 31 December 2020 were £157.8m; a 10% increase of £14.4m from 2019. These strong returns reflect the growing demand for mechanical licensing globally. In 2022, MCPS announced the highest per year distribution of royalties to its publisher, songwriter and composer members since 2009. Total distributions for the year ended 31 December 2021 are £181.7m; a strong 15% increase of £23.8m over 2020. MCPS also announced
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1088-688: Was established in its first form in 1910 as Mecolico, the Mechanical Copyright Licenses Company. This was in anticipation of the introduction of the Copyright Act of 1911 , which formally accredited copyright to sound recordings. Mecolico was the first organisation to license mechanical rights in the UK and subsequently joined with the Copyright Protection Society in 1924. Together, they were innovative in collecting mechanical royalties from mass-produced discs. The Music Publishers Association ,
1122-548: Was extended to Palestine by an Order in Council in 1924, it was extended to Tanganyika by an Order in Council in 1924 and 1931, it was extended to the Federated Malay States by an Order in Council in 1931 and 1932, and it was extended to the Cameroons under British Mandate by an Order in Council in 1933. The Copyright Act 1911 provided the template for an approach to copyright exceptions where
1156-520: Was subsequently enacted on various dates in the self-governing dominions and "territories under protection" of the British Empire . "The Copyright Act 1911 (extension to Palestine), 1924 Ordinance" covered Mandatory Palestine and later the State of Israel , where in the latter it remained the governing statute until the Israeli 2007 Copyright Act took effect on 25 May 2008. In the two centuries after
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