Just when you think the music labels have hit bottom, you find another piece of news demonstrating that there might not be a bottom: The UK equivalent of the RIAA (PRS) is suing a car repair chain, claiming that mechanic's radios were set loud enough to qualify as a public performance:

The PRS claimed that Kwik-Fit mechanics routinely use personal radios while working at service centres across the UK and that music, protected by copyright, could be heard by colleagues and customers.

It is maintained that amounts to the "playing" or "performance" of the music in public and renders the firm guilty of infringing copyright.

Hmm. By that logic, every party I've ever been to needed a performance license. Lots of the cars on the road need one to - never mind FM broadcasting from the mp3 player, I'm just talking about volume. Is this really where the labels want to go? Do they have any idea how stupid this makes them look?

Technorati Tags: law, PR