UK collecting society PRS is suing Steam, the online games distribution platform operated by US gaming giant Valve Corporation, over alleged copyright infringement.
According to legal papers filed by PRS, Steam has never secured the licences it needs in place to make available games that include music composed and written by PRS members - despite the best efforts of the collecting society, which has “sought to license” Steam for “many years”, but “without appropriate engagement from Valve”.
Although the developers or publishers of video games available via Steam will usually have licences in place from music publishers to cover the inclusion of music within their games - which is treated as a ‘sync’, similar to the use of music in TV or film - those licences will not cover the subsequent making available of music when a game is downloaded.
Because, with the way song copyrights are managed in the UK, making available rights can only be licensed by PRS, not the music publishers.
“Music is vital to video games and transforms play into emotional, immersive experiences”, PRS says in a statement. And yet, “since its launch in 2003, Valve has never obtained a licence for its use of the rights managed by PRS on behalf of songwriters, composers and music publishers”.
PRS exists “to protect the value” of its members’ works “with integrity, transparency, and fairness”, insists PRS Chief Commercial Officer Dan Gopal. “Legal proceedings are not a step we take lightly”, he adds, “but when a business’s actions undermine those principles, we have a duty to act”.
Steam is the major player when it comes to the distribution and sale of PC games, controlling about 75% of the market with 147 million monthly active users. It was recently described by PC Gamer as “the de facto marketplace where PC gamers make their purchases and developers jostle for their attention”.
Users buy and download games to their computers from the Steam store, but can also then stream games to other devices and live-stream gameplay online.
Understanding why Steam needs a PRS licence to distribute games like ‘EA SPORTS FC’, ‘Forza Horizon’ and ‘Grand Theft Auto’ - despite the publishers of those games having secured sync licences from the music industry before release - requires understanding how the copyrights in songs and compositions are managed.
Under the UK system, when a songwriter or composer joins PRS, they assign to the society the ‘performing rights’ in all their music - so that’s the right to perform, communicate or make available every song or composition. If the writer then signs with a music publisher, they will assign or license the other elements of the copyright - reproduction, distribution, adaptation, rental - to that business partner.
When music is synchronised into video games, a reproduction occurs, and that is what music publishers allow when they negotiate and agree sync deals with games publishers. The upfront fee paid by the games publisher covers the actual synchronisation.
However, when a game is made available to download or stream, that exploits the separate ‘making available’ element of the copyright. Music publishers cannot license that specific usage because PRS, not the publishers, controls that element of the copyright.
Things would possibly work differently in the US where Valve is based, because downloads - or at least audio downloads - are treated differently from a rights perspective in the US market, and publishers have more control when it comes to the licensing of their repertoires.
However, even there, things like the Steam store probably still operate in something of a grey area when it comes to what rights need to be licensed from where.
And either way, the US system does not apply when it comes to services available in the UK and the PRS repertoire. PRS’s statement continues, “this litigation will progress unless Valve Corporation engages positively with discussions and takes the necessary licence to cover the use of PRS repertoire, both retrospectively and moving forwards”.