Beware of complications if this is not the case (or perhaps even if it is!), however. The label which publishes the commercial recording you want to use may not be a member of the BPI. The deal that the record producer did with the performers may not entitle PPL (or the label) to licence the performersâ rights to you ö and if they do not, tracing the performers or their representatives can be a nightmare. And even if you do manage to trace all the performers, it takes only one member of a pop group or symphony orchestra to refuse consent, and you have done it all for nothing.

The best rule of thumb is not to use commercial recordings unless you have to. Then, to use only those whose entire rights, including performersâ rights, are covered by a blanket

agreement to which the broadcaster for which you are making the programme is a party. And, failing that, to use only those to which you can get a licence to all the rights you need in one conversation with the PPL.

Again, PACT members can get expert advice from the Producersâ Industrial Relations Service (PIRS) on (tel) 44 (0)207-830-6600, (e-mail) pirs@pact.co.uk.

Production music, also called library music, is the music offered by numerous companies (you can get a list from the MCPS) on CD, already cleared so that you can use it by doing no more than filling in a form stating the uses that you want and paying the appropriate scale fee.