PPL refunds made easy

The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) is working on a plan to make it easy for licensees to claim their share of the £10m owed in music licence fees.

Ideas include setting up a website where hosts can enter details online to apply for refunds, or providing claim forms within trade magazines.

BBPA communications director Mark Hastings said: "Details will become clearer once we study the High Court guidance in full and have a conversation with PPL over how to administer refunds.

"We will be doing it as soon as possible, we are as keen as licensees to get the process started."

It comes after the High Court rejected an appeal from PPL over charges for playing music in venues.

The latest ruling confirms savings of around £3m a year for pubs and opens the door for refunds going back to 2005 that could amount to £10 million.

Licensees will be able to claim refunds individually, based on their own calculations of what they are owed, or they will be able to ask PPL to make the calculation for them. Details of how to claim will be available in due course.

BBPA chief executive Brigid Simmonds said: "We are now turning our attention to helping pubs to claim the long-overdue refunds to which they are entitled."

The BBPA and the British Hospitality Association has invested around £400,000 pursuing the case.

A PPL spokeswoman said: "On the appeal, the Judge was limited to considering whether the Copyright Tribunal had erred in law, not whether the decision was one he would have made based on the evidence.

"Naturally the company is extremely disappointed that the Judge found there was no error of law although he identified some problems with the decision of the Tribunal."