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    Notorious UK rights group launches legal action against Valve for distributing music in games on Steam without a license | The Performing Right Society says a license to use music in a game does not constitute the right to distribute that music, via the game, to the public.
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    Notorious UK rights group launches legal action against Valve for distributing music in games on Steam without a license | The Performing Right Society says a license to use music in a game does not constitute the right to distribute that music, via the game, to the public.


    Notorious UK rights group launches legal action against Valve for distributing music in games on Steam without a license | The Performing Right Society says a license to use music in a game does not constitute the right to distribute that music, via the game, to the public.

    https://www.pcgamer.com/games/notorious-uk-rights-group-launches-legal-action-against-valve-for-distributing-music-in-games-on-steam-without-a-license/

    Posted by ControlCAD

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    33 Comments

    1. ProtectusCZ on

      Idiots. Will they also launch legal action against Ubi$oft, Micro$oft, $ony, EA, Epic Games, GOG and Nintendo?

    2. Tyr1326 on

      Hilarious. If the license doesn’t cover distribution, why bother getting a license? So the devs can enjoy it during beta? Unless that headline is seriously misrepresenting something, this seems very unlikely to hold up in court…

    4. j0kerclash on

      The music industry really needs a wake up call for it’s incredibly predatory legal practices.

      If they want to try and kick up a stink by trying to leach off the games industry, then it best be prepared for a lot of new eyes on their behaviour.

    5. Fo0ker on

      Every single person in that group should be barred from practising any kind of law, and fined to insolvency for wasting everyones time with obvious troll suits.

    6. TameTheAuroch on

      Copying my comment here:

      Just to let everyone know, PRS is not suing for fairer compensation to the artists, they are trying to grab money for the publishers. It’s just a bunch of megacorps in a trench coat.

      Furthermora UK has some of the most aisine music licensing laws in the developed world. Unfortunately I have firsthand experience…

    7. zterrans on

      So…you can use the music in the game, but the license for that does not cover distributing it? First of all, I’m betting the contracts cover that, second of all, if it were true, then there would be no point to ever doing it.

    8. redchill101 on

      So do they sue game stop next…they’re selling video games with no extra license for the music already contained in the game. Same with ANY online store i.e. sony, microsoft etc. Hell, I can buy games from Amazon….should they be paying for an extra license too? Whole thing is peak scumbag.

    9. Mormaethor on

      They must realize that if that lawsuit were to be successful, it would be significantly cheaper for all games to just make completely original soundtracks that they own the rights to and cut out the music industry completely, right?

    10. yezu on

      Honestly these collective rights agencies like the PRS are even worse than big megacorps, regardlessof the country theyoperate in. Their whole model is built on threatning people with legal action that could not afford to defend themselves. Them going after Valve is a rare occurrence and I sincerely hope it’ll bite them in the arse.

    12. uberusepicus on

      Valve, there’s probably better targets to sue that them 🙂
      Anyway fuck the music industry 

    13. Hopeful_Leg_6200 on

      Valve legal team when they receive another bogus suit:
      **insert “aw jeez, not this shit again” meme**

    14. cowbutt6 on

      Does Amazon need a license to distribute music on CDs and DVDs to its customers?

      I don’t see Valve as doing anything much different, seeing as the music isn’t playable until the game is downloaded and installed.

    15. Wadarkhu on

      What an idiotic claim, the game company gains the rights to use the music in order to distribute it. Should I require a license to sell my games I bought on platforms like eBay too? Charity shops? Completely stupid. What’s wrong with these people?

    16. CaptainFil on

      Lol as a video game publisher all our contracts specify what we can and can’t do with the music/soundtrack. Sometimes Devs want to hold on to them, sometimes the composer won’t allow it to be sold on Steam. More often than not we agree we can sell it on Steam and the composer can sell it anywhere else.

      I don’t see how this – yet again – is a Steam problem.

    19. Ubera90 on

      Isn’t dealing with the licensing up to the developer, not Steam?

      The developer decides whether they redistribute the OST as another product.

    20. Mulyac12321 on

      What do they think licensing music for a video game entails? Are they supposed to produce the game but not distribute it? This is ridiculously idiotic.

    21. darkvaris on

      Really strange coalition of attacks all of a sudden on one of the most popular privately owned companies in the entire world

    22. ButWhatIfPotato on

      15 years ago, PRS called my office and wanted money because our phones had on-hold music.

    23. 1995LexusLS400 on

      This is going to get thrown out. 

      Steam isn’t distributing music at all, it’s distributing games. The games may have real music in, but it’s down to the publishers/developers to get the distribution licenses for it. 

    24. brzozowe_drzewo on

      Why won’t they sue every cinema, radio, tv station and every other company with a game launcher, like epic games or Ubisoft?

    25. _OVERHATE_ on

      Lots of lawsuits against valve recently. I wonder which group might be behind it, like who benefits a lot if Steam gets negative press or legal pressure.

      Not that Valve doesn’t do bad shit like the Steam marketplace gambling. But its just too many too close to eachother. 

    26. Tritri89 on

      So how the fuck are developer supposed to distribute their games with licensed music if the license doesn’t cover “digital distribution of the game”. (I know that this “group” is nothing more than a predatory copyright troll group, but what judge in his right mind would listen to this argument even 5 minutes ???)

    27. tam1g10 on

      This might be the single stupidest lawsuit ever. All this will do is encourage games to make their own original soundtracks to avoid potential legal issues thus preventing the music industry from making anything off it at all.

    28. Darklight731 on

      Are they serious? I am not spending 60 on a game to pirate the music, I am buying the game, which the music is a part of.

    29. nora_sellisa on

      Are they going to start suing stores that sell physical copies of the game too? They either have the best or the worst lawyers, either there is some insane loophole or the lawyers are so stupid they think they can win

    30. dattokyo on

      > I initially assumed that this lawsuit was specifically about game soundtracks on Steam, which struck me as odd because surely no major game publisher would release an official soundtrack without the proper licenses in place. But a PRS spokesperson clarified that the action is related to any music, in games as well as soundtracks, that Valve hasn’t separately licensed for distribution.

      I was thinking the same thing as the author did initially, glad they cleared that up. Obviously that’s completely whacky.

    31. Levoso_con_v on

      This is as stupid as saying cinemas can’t reproduce movies because they don’t have a license to distribute the songs in the movies even if they have the license to distribute those movies.

    32. Headpuncher on

      So when a film company license and use music in a film it doesn’t cover distribution, so every time the film is viewed in a cinema it’s a licensing violation?

      Brb, going to pivot my software patents troll company.