Police officers have been told they will no longer be able to pass the time by listening to radio when on duty in pairs.Why?
Copywright laws mean if more than one officer is in a car when a song comes on the radio the force needs to pay for a performance licence.Ha ha ha ha ha!
Still, the police (i.e. the taxpayer) are still shelling out for one vital frontline function to carry on listening in to Chris Moyle:
The force’s media relations office confirmed it would maintain an individual licence to enable staff to monitor news sources.Of course!
Never mind keeping a staff member happy while patrolling a lonely beat, when they need those licenses for paid meejah flacks to pounce on any story in the local news that might portray the police in a bad light, eh?
8 comments:
You just couldn't make this shit up could you. In the stupidity leagues our Govt and Civil Service bodies excel.
It's getting to the point now where I reckon people who work for anything in the Public Sector will soon rather declare they practice beastiality than confess to their real employ.
As far as I'm concerned the police should be grateful they are prevented from listening to Moyles...
I'm waiting for someone to market a device which automatically mutes any radio playing that fat twat within earshot.
"It's getting to the point now where I reckon people who work for anything in the Public Sector will soon rather declare they practice beastiality than confess to their real employ."
Some of my friends work in the public sector, and they are equally scathing of the utter mess most big departments have got themselves in...
Dear Predator
It's worse than you thought.
A public performance licence is required when a copyright song is played to the public. The inside of a police car is private space and the officers, as employees, do not constitute the public, no matter how many of them are in the car. Certain other people and some members of the public could also be in the car without breaching broadcasting law. If this were not the case everyone would need a licence when they give lifts to friends, relatives or total strangers.
This is either just another example of misinterpretation of the law, which is usually down to ignorance, negligence or malice, or the police have suddenly woken up to the fact that if they deem the inside of a car to be private for musical purposes, they may have difficulty sticking someone with a charge of possession of an offensive weapon in a public place when they find a knife inside someone’s private car (have a look at your tax disc – the tax class is PLG for cars, even urban tanks – Private Light Goods).
DP
How can a public licence be required? Shops that play the radio (for instance) to customers are supposedly 'publishing' copyrighted material to the public. But they wouldn't be liable if they listened to it on their own.
Similarly, how can an individual employee's personal action to listen to publicly broadcast entertainment be a copyright issue for their employer? Only if they are transporting a member of the 'public' in the back of their police car, surely...
As far as the PRS are concerned music is a product, and you have to pay to USE it (their words).
On their home page under "We're here for music users" is this:
"We're here to help you experience the benefits and value of music. We'll give you the permission you need for the music you want."
http://www.prsformusic.com/Pages/default.aspx
And on the subject of Julia's public service friends, I would point out that these bodies didn't get in a mess all by themselves. PEOPLE had to make the bad decisions, so why didn't some of them speak up before it got so bad?
"This is either just another example of misinterpretation of the law, which is usually down to ignorance, negligence or malice, or the police have suddenly woken up to the fact that if they deem the inside of a car to be private for musical purposes, they may have difficulty sticking someone with a charge of possession of an offensive weapon in a public place when they find a knife inside someone’s private car...."
Now,there's an interesting wrinkle...
"...so why didn't some of them speak up before it got so bad?"
I'm guessing because it would be career suicide? Also, one voice among thousands tends to get lost.
"And on the subject of Julia's public service friends, I would point out that these bodies didn't get in a mess all by themselves. PEOPLE had to make the bad decisions, so why didn't some of them speak up before it got so bad?"
Even small acts of sabotage are dangerous in the path the lefty equality & divershitty juggernaut.
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