Reference

PPL Refunds - BBPA Guidance
19.07.2010

PPL will be writing to all its licensees from the end of this week to advise them about claiming any refunds which may be due following the significant reductions in the PPL Background Music Tariff which have been ordered by the Copyright Tribunal. All PPL licensees will receive a claim form which they can opt to complete themselves, or return to PPL requesting them to calculate any refund which might be owed. Even where companies and individual pubs opt for the latter option, they should try to make a rough calculation as to what they might be owed, in order to ensure that the refund received is around the correct amount.

The BBPA has produced information and guidance for BBPA members on the refund process which is available below. This includes a chart to assist with calculating refunds. The BHA has produced similar advice for hotels and restaurants.

It is very important that companies and individual pubs contact PPL directly in order to make a claim. If businesses do not apply for a refund, they will not automatically receive one.

Looking forward to PPL licence renewals for this year, some members have reported that that PPL are bringing forward their invoicing practices by at least one month, in order to ensure that businesses are given the opportunity to pay by the start date of the licence, otherwise a surcharge of 50% will be applied for late payment. The surcharge was upheld by the Copyright Tribunal as part of the terms and conditions of the tariff. For example, if your licence is normally due for renewal on 1st August, rather than receiving an invoice after that date for payment within 28 days, as has been the case for many companies previously, it is likely that PPL will want to invoice you by early July, so that payment can be made by the renewal date of 1st August.