Legal consumer purchase of works, such as buying CDs from a music store, confer private performance rights.
Royalties for works essential to an organisation's purpose, such as theaters and radio, are usually negotiated directly with the rights holder.
A copyright collective is more general than a PRO as it is not limited to performances and includes reproduction rights organisations (RROs).
Other than their primary purpose as an intermediary between rights holders and customers, PROs are highly active in legal arenas.
ASCAP, for example, was eventually forced in the face of public opinion to abandon its attempts to charge the Girl Scouts of the USA for singing campfire songs.
ASCAP's and SESAC's policy of charging non-commercial educational (NCE) radio stations for playing copyrighted music has also been criticised, especially by college radio stations across the U.S., which rely entirely on student and listener support for funding and have difficulty affording the extra fees.
Community Orchestras, which mostly play classical works in the public domain, may occasionally play a work within copyright, but are forced to pay licenses to rights societies on all concert revenues including concerts where all music is in the public domain, which is then distributed to songwriters of pop songs.
"One exception to the rule allows businesses of a certain size (stores under 2,000 square feet, restaurants or bars under 3,750 square feet) to play music from a radio, television, or similar household device without a license, provided there are fewer than six speakers (with limits on the placement of speakers), and customers aren't charged to listen.
Rights owners – especially independents and newcomers not represented by large publishing companies – criticise the PROs for what they deem to be "mystical" formulas for deciding who gets what share of the total licensing revenue received.