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The government launched a consultation on 1 July 2008 in respect of certain copyright exemptions which apply to playing recorded music in public.

The review is due to an awareness that some exemptions in the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 may not be working well in maintaining the correct balance between the interests of music rights holders and users.

At the moment, the exemptions principally allow not-for-profit and charitable organisations, in certain specific circumstances, to play copyright sound recordings in public without being required to pay a licence fee for use of those sound recordings or the performances they contain.

The three options which the consultation invites comments on are:

• Option 1 will repeal the exemptions, giving right holders exclusive rights over the public playing of sound recordings in all the circumstances which are currently exempt
• Option 2 will narrow the scope of the exemptions so that they are only available to small charities. It will also extend the exemptions so that they apply to both the PRS licence and the PPL licence. The exemption from both licences may also be extended to some limited uses of recorded music by NHS trusts
• Option 3 will remove the exemptions but right holders will only be able to charge royalties at a rate which is considered to be fair to both them and the users. This is referred to as equitable remuneration. We also propose to remove the mechanism, introduced in 2003, whereby the Secretary of State can refer PPL licences to the Copyright Tribunal for adjudication

Full details of the consultation and how to respond here