An amateur choir is one that meets and sings for recreational purposes. Members of the choir do not get paid to perform with the group.

A work is a piece of music or song no longer than 16 pages in length represented by a publisher who participates in the scheme. For the avoidance of doubt, the licence does not allow for the copying of larger works or works made up of many individual pieces or movements e.g. an oratorio or other large-scale choral/orchestral work such as Poulenc’s Gloria, Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony, Britten’s War Requiem, etc , a song cycle, or a collection of pieces by a particular composer or artist. Permission to copy a work larger than 16 pages should be sought directly from the publisher or a licence purchased for each constituent piece (section or movement) within the larger work.

You can buy a licence directly through the PMLL portal https://hub.pmll.org.uk/

You can make copies of a published piece of music (work), for as many members of the choir as you have paid for.

E.g., Your choir has 20 members, and you purchase a licence for each member. You can then make a copy of your chosen work for every member of the choir e.g., 20.

If the members of the choir increase you can purchase a supplementary licence to cover these.

You can also make a minor arrangement of the work, for example a change of key to suit the voices of the choir

You must contact the publisher directly for permission to make and use such an arrangement. PMLL can help you with identifying the correct publisher and supply contact details.

Yes. The arrangement made must be written down, and then annotated with the title of the musical work, the name of the composer of the work, the name of the author of any associated lyrics or other text, the name of the publisher(s), the name of the arranger, and a note as follows:

“Arrangement made under PMLL ACL for use by [name of Choir and post code]”

Yes. You must own either a physical copy of the book or have paid for a pdf copy of the song/work from a legitimate website.

Yes. Excluded works are in the ‘excluded list’. These are works that cannot be copied or arranged under the licence.

‘Larger works’ are also excluded from this licence.  These are works that are more than sixteen (16) pages in length.

You will also find a list on the PMLL website (publisher list) of publishers who have agreed for the music they represent to be included in the licence scheme. If the work you want to copy is owned by one of these publishers, you can make copies under the licence.
If you are unsure, please contact PMLL directly and we will be able to advise [email protected]

No. You can also copy a pdf of a song that has been purchased for printing by you from a legitimate website. The licence does not cover the streaming of music to a device.

No. Each choir’s licence is personal to that choir and not transferable, so only the choir that has purchased the licence may use the copies or arrangements. Copies and arrangements must be annotated with the notice below
“Copy made under PMLL ACL for use by [name of Choir and post code]”

Yes. It is a condition of the licence that all copies or arrangements made under the licence must be reported to PMLL. You can do this via our portal https://hub.pmll.org.uk/

It is essential that you report everything you copy as we use this information to pay the publisher of the work who in turn will pay the composers and/or songwriters of the work used.  In order to accurately pay on the licence fees we need to know as much detail as possible about what you have copied.

You should report data on the works as soon as you have copied them. However, as long as you report the works you have copied you can do this at anytime convenient to you.

You must report what you have copied before your licence expires.

PMLL has built a portal where you can purchase a licence and also report data quickly and easily. You will need to create an account, but once this has been done you can report data via the portal via a simple data submission page.

Yes.  You would need to buy additional licences for those extra works.

Not immediately, but you must have a valid licence or you will need to destroy the copies previously made when you purchased a licence. If, for example, you purchase a licence for 10 works in Year 1 and you wish to use 5 new works in Year 2.  You only need to purchase a licence for the 5 new works, you can continue to use the previously copied 10 works for a further year (for maximum of 24 months), providing you hold a valid licence.

However, after 24 months if you wish to reuse copies previously made in Year 1 of your licence you must include them in the ‘total number of works’ when you renew/take out a new licence. You may keep these works in your library as long as you hold a licence and are not using them. If you wish to reuse them in rehearsals in later years, you must include these works in the total number of works you are buying a licence for.

No. The original 5 works can be retained and used again in Year 2, alongside the new works. You only pay for the new 5 works that you wish to use. You can keep copies of works made in previous years as long as you hold a valid licence.

However, if after 24 months you wish to reuse the previous works copied then you must include and pay for them when you purchase a new licence.

Yes . If you no longer hold a valid Amateur Choir Licence you would need to destroy all works copied under it. The licence allows you to copy and retain these works, if you no longer have a licence then you cannot retain works copied under it.

No. Public performance of copyright music is administered by PRS for Music and the venue within which you are performing (or your choir if the venue is not licensed) must be licensed by PRS for Music for the public performance by the choir. For further information please go to https://www.prsformusic.com/what-we-do/licensing-music/do-i-need-a-licence

Each year when you purchase an Amateur Choir Licence you will be provided with stickers for the number of works and choir members covered by your licence. The stickers should be placed on all copies of music made under the licence. The colour of the stickers will change each year to ensure that it is easy to see that a licence is valid.