I am only showing football or sports. Do I still need an MPLC licence?

MPLC does not currently licence sports so if you are only showing sports programmes you do not need an MPLC licence.

However to avoid a copyright infringement you would need a mechanism in place to avoid the accidental or occasional showing of non sporting programmes. If you do not have that then an MPLC licence will cover you for that liability,

MPLC Public Performance Licences are affordable, easy to buy and can be put in place immediately. They are the legal way to show movies and TV programmes in a public or commercial space.

We are a private club occasionally showing documentaries. Do we need an MPLC Public Performance Licence?

Yes you do.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a private club or open to the public you are treated the same – only a private household is exempt. And whether you show documentaries or the latest Hollywood blockbuster it doesn’t matter.

But don’t worry, MPLC Public Performance Licences are affordable, easy to buy and can be put in place immediately. They are the legal way to show movies and TV programmes in a public or commercial space.

We already have a public performance licence that allows us to play music, do we need this as well?

Yes you do.

A licence for playing music in a public space allows you to play music. The money collected through that licence goes to the artists, performers and music labels that produce the music.

To play audiovisual content–films and TV programmes–you need a separate licence for those and that’s what we provide with the MPLC Public Performance Licence. The money we collect and share with our rightsholders is shared in turn with the individual actors, professionals, technicians and other creative personnel that create all that wonderful movie and TV content.

An MPLC Public Performance licence that allows you to show movie and TV content in a public place is very affordable, easy to buy and can be in place immediately.

I work for a public or governmental organisation or entity, do we need a licence?

Yes, copyright law applies to all organisations and businesses, including not-for-profit organisations, members clubs, public sector organisations and charities.

So when you are showing movies and TV programmes publicly either to a group of the general public or a closed group of members or supporters then you still do need an MPLC licence as a charity or a non-profit organisation.

But don’t worry, licences are very affordable, easy to buy and can be in place immediately.

Do charities and non-profit organisations need an MPLC licence?

Yes, copyright law applies to all organisations and businesses, including not-for-profit organisations, members clubs, public sector organisations and charities.

So when you are showing movies and TV programmes publicly either to a group of the general public or a closed group of members or supporters then you still do need an MPLC licence as a charity or a non-profit organisation.

But don’t worry, licences are very affordable, easy to buy and can be in place immediately.

I show movies and tv programmes publicly but I don’t charge any admission or viewing fees. Do I need an MPLC Public Performance Licence?

Yes you do.

An MPLC Public Performance licence is required to legally show movies and TV programmes to the public or any closed user group of customers, members or other people.

In fact an MPLC Public Performance licence only allows you to show movies for free to people. If you would like to charge people to see a movie then you actually need a different licence called a Single Title Movie Licence. We have thousands of movie titles available to be shown that you can charge an entry or screening fee for. To find out which movies are available call us on 01323 649 647 or email us at ukinfo@mplc.com.

If you are showing movies publicly without charging any admission or viewing fees then you will be covered by a simple, annual, MPLC Public Performance Licence. This is affordable, easy to buy and can be in place immediately.