I want to set up a music download website.  Do I need a licence to do this?

Under UK law copyright material sent over the Internet or stored on web servers will generally be protected in the same way as material in other media. Anyone wishing to put copyright material on the Internet, or distribute or download material that others have placed on the Internet, should ensure that they have the permission of the owners of rights in the material unless copyright exceptions apply.  You should note that the law may be different in other countries so copyright material may have been put on the internet in other countries without infringing copyright there, but it could still be illegal to do certain things with that material in the UK– including downloading it to your computer or sharing it with friends.

Many groups of copyright owners are represented by a collecting society. A collecting society will be able to agree licences with users on behalf of owners and will collect any royalties the owners are owed. In many cases a collecting society will offer a blanket licence for all the works by owners it represents.

There are different types of copyright associated with music recordings. There is the copyright in the underlying music and lyrics - which is generally licensed for public performance by MCPS- PRS Alliance who act on behalf of their songwriter, composer and music publisher members. And there is the copyright in the sound recording itself and performers’ rights- which is generally licensed for public performance by Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) who act on behalf of their performer and record company members.