Adopted by the MPA Board of Directors on 6 February 2019

Email:

[email protected]

Telephone number:

020 3848 7410

MPA Publisher Membership Code of Conduct

1) Purpose
It is the role of the Board of Directors of the Music Publishers Association to determine the
terms and conditions of membership of the MPA, in accordance with the MPA Articles of
Association. This document forms part of those terms and conditions from the date above.

2) Definition of Music Publisher
Article 16(a) requires that “No person or corporation and no nominee of a firm shall be admitted
to membership unless he/she or such corporation or firm is a Music Publisher.”
“Music Publisher” means a company, person or other legal entity who has entered
into agreement(s) with songwriters and/or authors and/or composers and/or other music
publishers or owners of rights to take an assignment, a licence or other grant of rights
including, but without limitation, of copyright and/or authors’ rights in their musical
works and/or lyrics for the purposes of the publication, exploitation and administration
of them by any means now known or hereafter created.
The MPA needs to be satisfied that an applicant is already trading as a music publisher in order
to accept a membership application. This is usually signified by publisher membership of PRS
for Music or other CMO and accordingly MPA will usually require a CAE/IPI number. For
those to whom this is not applicable (for instance, printed music publishers), MPA may require
other evidence of engagement in publishing activities (i.e. the publication, exploitation and
administration of the relevant rights) before admission to membership.

3) Member conduct
Without prejudice to other remedies, under Article 18 the Board may invoke a disciplinary
procedure to suspend or remove membership where minded to do so (which procedure includes
rights of appeal and a hearing in accordance with the principles of natural justice).
Circumstances where this may be invoked include where an MPA member’s conduct falls short
of the Board’s expectations.
In particular, MPA members are required to collect and distribute money to writers in an honest
manner in accordance with their agreements. In proven instances of deliberate non-payment,
underpayment, improper accounting and undercollection of applicable monies to writers, the
MPA Board is highly likely to invoke the disciplinary procedures under Article 18.

4) Use of MPA Logo
MPA members who continue to be members (including but without limitation to have paid
membership fees) and to meet the membership criteria and terms and conditions may use the
MPA logo to communicate their membership of MPA in connection with their member
business activities, so long as such use (and any other related content) is not offensive or
obscene or derogatory in nature or defamatory of any party. The MPA will reserve the right in
relation to each member to require a member to stop using the MPA logo following a Board
decision to that effect at the Board’s discretion.