General
The APRA|AMCOS PPNZ School Music Licences are administered by the New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA) as part of their One Stop Shop Copyright Licensing Service. Under this service schools (primary, intermediate and secondary) can assess what copyright issues they encounter and purchase licences from the relevant licensing organisations to allow them to supplement their educational resources.
Each year we survey 60 schools. The data collected together with other distribution information is used to distribute royalties collected from schools in New Zealand to the correct copyright holders.
To know whether your school needs a Music Licence consider if:
· music is performed in public or broadcast at your school or by your students
· CD’s, iPods etc are played outside the course of instruction i.e at school socials or dances
· students take part in music festivals
· sheet music is photocopied for a choir or orchestra
· DVDs or CDs are being made of a school
· music is communicated on the school intranet
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then your school does require a music licence.
The Schools Public Performance and Print Music Licence covers both the public performance and photocopying of print music under the one licence. The Schools Music Recording Licence (Audio/Video) is also available, this allows the making of audio and/or video recordings of musical works for educational purposes.
Schools need only be concerned with two licence applications to ensure that the composers, music publishers and owners of sound recordings used in schools are being fairly compensated for the use of their work and that the school is adhering to its legal obligations under the Copyright Act 1994.
What do the Licences cover?
The Public Performance and Print Music Licence covers the two main uses of music in schools.
Public Performance covers virtually every music performance that a school may entertain. For example:
Concerts and performances at school by the pupils or otherwise
Concerts by school groups at any multi-school festivals (except the annual event presently known as ‘Stage Challenge’)
Playing recorded music at aerobics and dance lessons
Performances by visiting musicians
Socials and dances
Low Power Radio broadcast
The only exceptions being the performance of Grand Right Musicals such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Miserables, Oliver etc, and performances in a dramatic context [where music is added to the dramatic show] in secondary schools. The Licence does not cover these scenarios. For more information on dramatic context and musicals, please visit Music in Theatre.
Print Music allows your school to make a limited number of copies of the print music that it owns, for educational purposes. The licence does not replace the need to own original sheet music but it enables teachers to make multiple copies to supplement the resources needed for the students. Music can be photocopied under the licence for use in the classroom, for use in rehearsal or in performances by school bands, orchestras, choirs or other school ensembles.
Schools Music Recording Licence (Audio/Video)
This licence allows the making of audio and/or video recordings of musical works for the educational purposes of the school and to supply to their students for their private domestic use, providing that the audio or video recording is:
intended to be played at a school event
of a school event
for analysis by students as a part of a course for instruction
How much do the licences cost?
Licences fees for 2011 (exclusive of GST):
Schools Public Performance and Print Music Licence - 92 cents per pupil ($0.72 cents APRA / $0.20 cents PPNZ)
Schools Music Recording Licence (Audio and Video) - 43 cents per pupil
The two licences can be taken out separately according to the school's specific needs.
For further information on the licence scheme as administered by the New Zealand Schools Trustees Association please contact the NZSTA Copyright Helpdesk 0800 663 486.
Or contact Damian Vaughan, Licensing Services Manager for APRA via email: