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UK Shop Assistant Almost Prosecuted by PRS for Singing at Work
The Performing Right Society (PRS) issued a warning against a shop assistant working at a village store in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, indicating that her singing in the store would result in her prosecution and fines since she did not have a performance licence. The PRS is a non-profit membership organisation in the United Kingdom which collects licence fees from music users, and distributes the money to its members, the writers and publishers of music, and to affiliated societies worldwide. Earlier in 2009, the village store itself was contacted by the PRS who warned that the store required a licence to play a radio within listening distance of its customers. The store decided to remove the radio, prompting the shop assistant to fill the relative silence in the store with her own singing. The PRS’ resulting hard-line response was not only met with disbelief by the shop assistant, but public anger and resentment, causing the PRS to make an about face, apologising to the shop assistant with a note and a bouquet of flowers.
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