PRCA vs CIPR

5th May

Those monitoring the hashtag #PRtalk got more than they bargained for recently, when big hitters from both the CIPR and PRCA got into the ring to debate the revised Newspaper Licensing Agency licensing structure.

Already complicated, the NLA has announced further changes to the licenses PR agencies require. The CIPR declared it a ‘welcome first step in addressing the complexities of copyright licensing in the UK.’ This is surely good news to anybody who has ever tried to decipher whether they need a license from the information available on the NLA website. But, according to PRCA director general Francis Ingham, the CIPR’s reaction was ‘a classic example of an org being used.’ He went on to declare that ‘The CIPR has associated itself with a toxic brand.”

The debate became fairly feisty, with the CIPR denying the NLA’s latest announcement was a ‘co-badged anything’, despite the release carrying both a CIPR logo and a quote.

This bun fight between our two main industry bodies does nothing to further the cause of the many agencies confused or annoyed by the NLA’s licensing structure. However, the twitter exchange did result in both organisations declaring they were open to proper face-to-face debate. I think this would be a positive thing, but the big question is this: Would the NLA itself be up for the challenge? You know what they say, there’s no show without Punch!