PLine and CLine

DDEX messages can provide P and C lines for different entities. While both have the same structure, they have different legal meaning.

Structure of the DDEX PLine and CLine composites

The Pline and Cline composites have three sub-elements and one or two attributes:

• An optional element for the year of release/publication;

• An optional element for the name of the rights owner;

• A mandatory field for the complete Pline or Cline (i.e. the concatenation of the above two elements);

• An optional XML attribute for the language and script used (if different from the rest of the message);

• An optional type which can be OriginalPLine or RemasteringPLine (only for Plines).

It is possible to communicate multiple Plines and Clines side by side. In most cases, the only data element used is the mandatory field for the complete Pline or Cline.

One P/C Line for each Creation

As a default, a maximum of 

• one Pline should be communicated for each Sound Recording or Video;

• one Cline should be communicated for each Video; 

• one Cline should be communicated for each Release.

In some circumstances it may be necessary to have multiple Pline or Cline composites to provide information for different countries and, especially, different languages and/or scripts.
For each country/language/script there may, however, be only one Pline or Cline for each Sound Recording, Video or Release, respectively. 

Pline and Cline composites in DDEX Messages

Use not mandatory

Though the use of a copyright notice is no longer required by copyright treaties or national laws, it can bring legal benefits. The use of either a ℗ or a © notice is optional in DDEX ERN messages and can be communicated using the PLine and CLine composites.

Clines for Covers and Videos 

The © notice for a cover art shall be communicated in the CLine tag in the Image composite whereas the CLine tag in the Release composite shall only be used to signal the copyright notice for the creation of the Release itself.

The same applies to Videos: the CLine composite on Video provides the © notice for the video itself, and the CLine on the Release composite would provide the copyright notice for the creation of the Video Release itself.

...    
     <ResourceList>
        <Video>
            <ResourceReference>A1</ResourceReference>
            <Type>BalletVideo</Type>
            ...
            <CLine>
                <Year>2015</Year>
                <CLineCompany>Company that owns the video</CLineCompany>
                <CLineText>© 2015 Company that owns the video</CLineText>
            </CLine>
            ...
        </Video>   
 
        <Image>
            <ResourceReference>A2</ResourceReference>
            <Type>FrontCoverImage</Type>
            ...
            <CLine>
                <Year>2016</Year>
                <CLineCompany>Company that owns the cover art</CLineCompany>
                <CLineText>© 2016 Company that owns the cover art</CLineText>               
            </CLine>
            ...
        </Image>   
         
        <Image>
            <ResourceReference>A3</ResourceReference>
            <Type>VideoScreenCapture</Type>
            ...
            <CLine>
                <Year>2015</Year>
                <CLineCompany>Company that owns the screen shot</CLineCompany>
                <CLineText>© 2016 Company that owns the screen shot</CLineText>               
            </CLine>
            ...
        </Image>   
    </ResourceList>
 
    <ReleaseList>
        <Release>
            <ReleaseReference>R1</ReleaseReference>
            <ReleaseType>VideoAlbum</ReleaseType>          
            ...           
            <CLine>
                <Year>2020</Year>
                <CLineCompany>Company that put the Release together</CLineCompany>
                <CLineText>© 2020 Company that put the Release together</CLineText>
            </CLine>
            ...
            <ResourceGroup>
                <ResourceGroupContentItem>
                    <ReleaseResourceReference>A1</ReleaseResourceReference>
                    <LinkedReleaseResourceReference LinkDescription="CoverArt">A2</LinkedReleaseResourceReference>
                    <LinkedReleaseResourceReference LinkDescription="VideoScreenCapture">A3</LinkedReleaseResourceReference>
                </ResourceGroupContentItem>               
            </ResourceGroup>           
            ...           
        </Release>
    </ReleaseList>
...

Recommended Guidelines for the use of ℗ Notices in DDEX Messages

Owner not licensee

℗ notices identify the owner of the rights in the original sound recording (the masters) at the time that the CD/carrier/file is manufactured.  Licensees (whether or not exclusive) can also be named in the ℗ notice, but only after identification of the owner.

Full corporate entity name not label name

Where the rights owner is a record company, the ℗ notice should include the corporate name of the company (or an abbreviation by which the name can be recognised or a generally known alternative designation) and not the name of a label or division where that is not a legal entity that owns the rights.

Date of first publication/release not re-release

℗ notices signify the year when the sound recording was first released for commercial sale to the public anywhere in the world and not the date of re-issue, re-release or manufacture

Compilations

Where a release is a compilation of previously released recordings each track must have its own ℗ notice.  If the year of first release and the rights owner are the same for a number of tracks they can be grouped together as long as they are clearly identified. A ℗ notice should not be used for the compilation itself.