Better Not Whistle While You Work

Should auto mechanics be prohibited from listening to the radio on the job?  That’s the question before the court in Edinburgh, Scotland (BBC News).  Britain’s Performing Rights Society is suing the Kwik-Fit chain of auto repair shops because its mechanics listen to their radios while working.  The Society claims this amounts to a “public performance” of copyrighted music without a license. 

This takes the whole “music industry sues music fan” saga into an entirely new battleground.  We’re not talking about Kwik-Fit playing Muzak in the waiting room without a license.  These are mechanics listening to their own personal radios in the garages (where customers are not allowed, if they obey the posted signs). 

The same rules that allow this tactic in the U.K. would presumably apply here in the U.S., as well.  There’s nothing preventing ASCAP or BMI from going after your local mechanic at the Jiffy Lube for listening to WFUV in the shop.  If they do, things are going to get ugly.