What does the Performance Licence cover?

A performance licence is required by law for the performance of any work involving drama, movement or spoken dialogue (e.g. a musical or a nativity) other than to pupils and staff. A Performing Rights Society (PRS) Licence will not cover musicals.

The Performance Licence covers the purchasing school or person only for a period of 12 months from the date of purchase and allows:

  • Unlimited performances of the purchased material to audiences of up to 200 people. The performances must be within 12 months of the date of purchase and this licence will expire thereafter and will need to be renewed for performances outside the 12 month period.
  • Playback of the backing tracks and/or vocal tracks at performances.
  • Use of all the songs and scripts etc from the purchased play in the classroom for teaching, and also in assemblies.
  • Performances in schools and any venues other than schools by amateur dramatics groups, church groups and stage schools whether charging admission or not.

If in any doubt about whether or not the Performance Licence covers your intended use, please contact us.

The Copying Licence covers the purchasing school or person only for a period of 12 months from the date of purchase and allows you to:

  • Print or make additional copies of the material as long as they are used by the purchasing school or person only.
  • Print additional copies of the music scores for musicians playing in the performances.
  • Make copies of the song lyrics to use in the performances. This also includes displaying/projecting lyrics on screens etc at the performance. Please ensure that you credit us on any lyrics with “Reproduced by kind permission © Popcorn School Ltd.”
  • Share the audio/mp3 files as long as it is just between teachers and students of the purchasing school or organisation.

Important

  • The Performance Licence and Copying Licence does not cover any other usage.
  • The Performance Licence and Copying Licence is non-transferable and is for the exclusive use of the school or person placing the order.
  • The Performance Licence and Copying Licence does not cover any professional performances in professional and/or commercial venues (e.g. theatres). For this type of commercial use, please contact us.

Please note: Audio/video/dvd recordings etc are not covered by the included licence. Please contact us here if you wish to make recordings. We allow uploading of audio/video recordings of your performances of our musicals onto public websites, subject to the following:

  • You have a video/audio recording licence from us;
  • You comply with the provisions in our full Terms and Conditions relating to Intellectual Property and particularly, but not limited to, clauses 6.4 and 6.5 of said Terms and Conditions
  • You do so entirely at your own risk and in the full knowledge that we disclaim all liability in relation thereto; and
  • You comply with the user policies and terms of use of the site that you are using, including but not limited to use of images of children and parental consent.
  • You clearly state the name of the musical and song, and credit it to us on any uploaded recordings as “Copyright © Popcorn School Ltd. 

Please note: Royalty payments become immediately due if you perform any of the songs from the musical (rather than the musical itself), to the public. If you or your school has a PRS (Performing Rights Society) Licence (sometimes these are arranged through the local authority), please inform the PRS if you perform any of our songs. Please contact us directly if you don’t have a PRS licence.

Further information

Please feel free to contact us directly with any queries. You could also look at the following website for more information: www.copyrightandschools.org

Full details of our Performance and Copying Licences can be found in our Terms And Conditions 

Renewal Performance Licence

If you wish to perform your play after the initial one year period, you can buy a further licence here.

If you need any further information on licensing and copyright, please contact us here here and we'll be happy to help.