The Music Police Strike!

whilst at work waiting for customers in the shop where she works, Sandra Burt listen to a radio, but of course that was breaking the law, the Performing Right Society and told they would have to pay an £80 annual fee to keep the radio on in the shop, fair enough, so the radio went, so Sandra started singing to herself and anyone else that was in the shop, no harm in that I would have thought, I have even sung a few lines myself whilst working away, but,

Gareth Kelly, music sales advisor for PRS, said that Mrs Burt was getting up to 'mischief' to get round the radio licence fee He said: 'Using any copyright material in your store, without paying for it, is illegal', the PRS said that Mrs Burt could be judged to be giving daily performances, which would require individual daily licences, taking the annual cost up to 'four figures',

Mrs Burt, who has worked in the store for four years, added: 'I have always sung in the shop but it is so quiet now without the radio on, that I'm singing all the time, it's ridiculous, what's the world coming to when Big Brother wants to charge you for singing a wee tune?' the Performing Right Society said it was within its rights to charge for all copyright music played or performed outside of the home,

Gareth Kelly, you must be a real joy to be around, I can just imagine you sneaking into your local Waitrose or Tesco's demanding to see the license if you catch one of the shelf stakers singing or humming a tune, thinking about it you must be in seventh heaven when you see buskers in the street trying to scratch a living and fining them up to 'four figures', what a sad person you must really be if you cannot let a lady sing at work.