Weil recently advised RadioCentre, the industry body for commercial radio in the United Kingdom, on the successful resolution of an important dispute concerning the terms under which its member radio stations can broadcast and copy musical works, which are protected by copyright. As a result of the settlement, a modernised commercial radio licence was developed to cover the rights of U.K. commercial radio stations to play musical works.

The RadioCentre members together own or operate 251 licenced radio stations and represent 90% of all commercial radio listening hours across the United Kingdom. The new licence agreement will apply to more than 300 commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom, and will run for a minimum of five years, replacing the previous agreement that has been in place since 1993.

This significant matter builds on Weil’s considerable breadth of expertise in music licencing, and wider intellectual property law in the media and entertainment sectors, having previously advised a number of parties in the United Kingdom (including Yahoo!, SonyCONNECT, MusicNet and RealNetworks) in the 2007 UK Copyright Tribunal dispute regarding the rates paid by online music service providers. In the United States, Bruce Rich represented the Radio Music License Committee in their music licence dealings with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), and SESAC.