A LANDLADY faces a jail term and a £10,000 fine is she breaks a court order forbidding her from playing music at her pub.

Gillian Whitehead, of Colliers Arms, Chorley Old Road, Smithills, was discovered playing tracks over a music system at the venue without a licence from music licencing organisation Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL).

She was taken to the High Court by PPL on Friday (Nov 20) when a judge ordered her to stop playing copyright sounds until she obtained a licence.

If Whitehead flouts the order at any licensed premises she runs she faces up to six months in prison and a £10,000 fine.

The High Court was told a PPL inspector heard music being played in the Colliers Arms on July 25 including the track Let's Get Rocked.

PPL solicitors wrote to the pub to warn about the need for a licence and inviting Whitehead to apply.

When she did not, it made the court application.

Christine Geissmar, operations director at PPL said: "There is an intrinsic value that recorded music adds to businesses, and this judgement acknowledges that the performers of the music and record companies should be fairly rewarded.

"Businesses that choose to play recorded music without a licence may face legal action and financial and other consequences as a result. "Legal action is only ever sought as a last resort where a business continues to play music following repeated attempts from PPL to get the correct licensing in place.

"PPL issues licences to hundreds of thousands of businesses and organisations across the UK when they play recorded music to their staff or customers.

"After the deduction of PPL’s running costs, all licence fee income is distributed to PPL’s record company and performer members.

"The majority are small businesses, all of whom are legally entitled to be fairly paid for the use of their recordings and performances. PPL does not retain a profit for its services."

The judge ordered Whitehead to pay PPL's costs of £2,163.