About the Mechanical Copyright Protection (MCPS) licence for schools - Centre for Education & Finance Management

If your school is recording or copying music, then you may need to obtain a Schools Limited Manufacture Licence.

The Schools Limited Manufacture Licence

MCPS and PPL offer a quick and easy joint licence via their agent the Centre for Education & Finance Management (CEFM) to cover their music rights in schools.

The specially designed licence for schools grants you permission to legally use music, in productions recorded or copied onto USB, laptops, CDs, DVDs and other devices. The MCPS and PPL repertoire consists of millions of songs across all genres, including many commercial artists.

What does the licence allow my school to do?

The licence provides your school with permission to produce content containing up to 120 minutes of music per copy. This would cover things such as:

the recording of student performances
student films containing music
audio visual content for assemblies and presentations
supporting material for classroom learning

These items can be given away for free or sold by your school to parents as part of fundraising initiatives.

Content covered by this licence includes school carol concerts, talent shows, assembly performances, displays or recordings for curriculum requirements.

Why do I need a licence?

The use of music within recorded or copied products requires two permissions to be obtained:

the copyright in the musical work, looked after by MCPS, who represent the composers, songwriters and music publishers
the copyright in the sound recording, looked after by PPL who represent performers and record companies

Are there any restrictions on the licence?

The licence permits up to 120 minutes of music per product.

There are some uses of music that are excluded from this licence such as:

Recording television programmes – this requires a licence from the Educational Recording Agency era.org.uk
Promotional/training materials – any products that could be deemed promotional, such as a school prospectus DVD or materials used for teacher training would require prior approval from the rights holders
Grand Rights – productions such as a musical theatre play, ballet or opera where characters and storylines are depicted will require a ‘Grand Rights’ licence to be obtained directly from the rights holders
Copying for broadcast or public performance – for example, instructors copying music to use in their exercise classes requires a ProDub licence prsformusic.com/produb
Online – Schools website, intranet or other digital services requires a Digital Music Licence for Schools from PRS for Music which can also be obtained via CEFM cefm.co.uk/licensing
Use of personal music streaming or other subscription services
Public Performance – the showing or playing of a recorded product in public (i.e. school performances to family members and/or other students) requires a Public Performance licence from PRS for Music and PPL which can also be obtained via CEFM cefm.co.uk/licensing

This a is a non-exhaustive list. If you need confirmation on your music use please contact CEFM who can help ensure you have the correct permissions in place.

Full terms and conditions of the licence can be found here: cefm.co.uk/mcps

How much does a licence cost?

Number of Copies	Annual Licence Cost	Inc. VAT
1–50	£41.41	£49.69
51–100	£69.02	£82.82
101–250	£124.24	£149.09
251–500	£207.07	£248.48
501–750	£289.90	£347.88
751–1000	£358.92	£430.70

The Department for Education (DfE) has agreed and paid for a licence to cover state maintained schools* in England for the production of up to the following units per year:

Primary Schools – up to 500 units

Secondary Schools – up to 750 units

Special Schools – up to 500 units

Pupil Referral Units – up to 500 units

Nurseries – up to 250 units

Should your school wish to exceed this number of units please contact CEFM for a top-up licence.

If you are unsure if you are correctly licensed please contact CEFM.

Schools covered by the DfE licence include all state-maintained schools (including, but not limited to, free schools, academies and pupil referral units, and any nurseries, pre-schools or playgroups forming part of any school, but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding sixth form colleges, universities and other institutions of further and higher education) in England.

I already have a public performance licence from PRS for Music and PPL, why do I need this licence?

Public performance licences from PRS for Music and PPL cover performances in public of PRS for Music and PPL repertoire. The Schools Limited Manufacture Licence is for the copying of music and issuing those copies to the public. Therefore a different licence is required.

Are there any situations when a school does not need to obtain a licence?

There is an exemption for the use of music by educational establishments in certain circumstances. Please contact CEFM to confirm if your content qualifies for an exemption.
You do not need a licence from MCPS or PPL in the unlikely event that all the music you are recording are either (a) no longer protected by copyright, or (b) not otherwise controlled by MCPS or PPL.

If you have any queries or would like to obtain a licence please contact us on mcps@cefm.co.uk or 01494 836227. You can also obtain a licence by downloading and returning the application form.

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