The Association Of Liquor Licensees Melbourne has put out an open national call to venue owners to express their concerns to the Australian Small Business Commissioner (ASBC), Mark Brennan, over hardships arising from what the organisation sees as untenable operational tariffs and copyright payments placed upon local businesses by music-industry bodies.
The association made the call as part of their ongoing action against both APRA AMCOS and the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA), which has been pursued for the past year by the ALLM in response to "hardships faced by licensees, the huge disparity between fees charged by [APRA & PPCA's] overseas affiliates, the net exodus of funds out of Australia funded by small businesses, onerous record-keeping required to provide annual attendance records, advance payments, the common practice of sending in undercover operatives to verify numbers and the threat of audits of business accounts".
"We have provided the Commissioner with comparisons with overseas rates, which demonstrate that we are paying about seven times on average more than USA & UK, and lots of other information," ALLM spokesman Con Sarrou said.
"The current tariffs are placing hardship on small businesses, and severely reducing profits and business viability. In Victoria, most clubs only open on Fridays and Saturdays."
Although Commissioner Brennan has taken on ALLM's complaints against the industry bodies, he advised the association that the problems allegedly suffered by its members would "need to be demonstrated … [as] a national problem, rather than a complaint from Victoria alone".
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Speaking in a statement of their need for vocal support, ALLM representatives said, "To this end, we seek the support of the entire late-night entertainment industry", and encouraged readers to contact their respective industry body as well as intra- and interstate colleagues.
"The Commissioner's office have indicated that we won't have a strong case unless it can be demonstrated that it is a national issue," Sarrou said. "Otherwise, they will have a hard job convincing the Federal Government to act.
"They need to hear from as many licensees as possible from across Australia. If you run multiple venues, best to submit responses from each business."
If you're such an entrepreneur and want to have your input on the national state of music-copyright fees, you can leave a confidential submission for the Commissioner's office online. Responses are required within a fortnight. If you do respond, drop the ALLM an email to let them know and enable them to build a list of venues and appropriate communication channels to keep everyone in the loop.
