Representing members’ rights
International trade
PPL has been seeking to ensure that the interests of our members are being put forward in the international trade deals the UK continues to negotiate following Brexit. In both our direct engagement with government, and as part of contributing to the wider industry responses to the government’s various calls for views, we highlighted the value to the UK of seeking to ensure that sound recordings and performances are properly protected by robust copyright laws in other countries. PPL has also continued to support the broader industry call for action to address the adverse impacts of Brexit on touring, such as the challenges of securing work permits and transporting instruments.
Government’s work on music streaming
Following the government’s 2021 response to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s inquiry into the economics of music streaming, various formal working groups were convened as part of the government’s ongoing programme of work to address the key issues identified by the inquiry. PPL actively contributed to these working groups during 2022. Mark Douglas, our Chief Information Officer, was an active participant in the metadata working group, which met with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) regularly throughout 2022 to examine issues relating to how streaming metadata is generated and used across the music industry. The government also formed an Industry Contact Group to keep the music industry updated on its work in this area, which Peter Leathem regularly attended.
Artificial intelligence
PPL continued to contribute to the wider industry lobbying activities led by UK Music on the topic of artificial intelligence. During 2022, this work focused on supporting the industry’s opposition to the government’s proposal for a new copyright exception for text and data mining (with government subsequently withdrawing this proposal more recently in 2023).