PPL Denies Targeting Pubs

Music royalties collection agency PPL has fired back at claims that it’s a “litigious bunch” that sees pubs as a “handy source” of revenue.

It’s written to the Morning Advertiser, the publicans’ trade journal, replying to the paper’s legal editor’s assertion that it has complex tariffs that need reviewing and is “happy to go to law whenever it suits them.”

MA legal editor Peter Coulson said he had the impression the PPL is “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” and sees the licensing trade as something of a soft touch.

PPL has come under fire for its proposal to increase its fees for specially featured entertainment by as much as 4,000 percent.

Coulson had welcomed the fact PPL is willing to extend its period of consultation on the matter, but said it was “a war of attrition” and it would be only “a matter of time” before it once again targeted the pub trade.

PPL says it has little choice but to take legal action against fee-dodging premises and the accusation that it’s “a litigious bunch” is incorrect and “grossly unfair.”

“We go to great lengths to avoid court proceedings but despite our best efforts some music users simply refuse to pay when they use our members’ sound recordings to enhance business,” it said.