The legalities of the music industry can be a little baffling so here's what you need to know as a freestyle dressage rider. It is important to get these things right both to maintain the reputation of Dressage and support the music industry. There are 3 main agencies; PPL, PRS and MCPS.
Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) licence the transmission/performance of a recording. British Dressage have a licence with PPL, which will be sub-licensed to you. This allows, with conditions, music in the PPL repertoire to be used in dressage routines at competition and for practice (i.e. a public performance).
We will endeavor to fulfill all British Dressage's requirements and we will check that any music you select for your routine is in the PPL repertoire. However, the ultimate liability falls to you, the sub-licensee.
The Mechanical Copyright Protection Society Limited (MCPS) licence the physical copying of music (physically and digitally) needed to get music from a CD or iTunes (etc) into a dressage routine. This only applies to our editing service where we use music not composed by us.
We cover the cost of the MCPS licence for our editing service. Music supplied by someone other than the copyright holder without an MCPS licence is illegal.
The Performing Rights Society (PRS) are charged with licensing the underlying composition. So, where PPL remunerate whoever owns and performed on a version of a song, PRS cover the rights of the composer. The venue you perform at should have a PRS licence
