Earlier this week, the PRCA challenged the agency, which looks after licensing arrangements for assorted publishers, to arrange a meeting between PRCA members and the CLA’s board.
The call came after the PRCA canvassed its members on the CLA’s Trial Media Consultancy Licence, brought in last November, which can cost in excess of £1,480 a year.
The PRCA’s survey found that a majority of its members thought the fees were unjustified and proposed a meeting with the CLA’s board to discuss the concerns.
On Thursday, the CLA conceded that a meeting would be possible after all, but it declined to put its board forward and limited the number of attendees to three PRCA members.
James Bennett, head of development at the CLA, wrote to the PRCA to say: "It is my remit to ensure that new licence products meet the needs of our customers, so I will be chairing the meeting for CLA. Andrew Greenan will also attend. Please let us know who will be attending for PRCA and which of your members will be accompanying you - 2 or 3 members should be adequate to represent your members' views?"
But the PRCA rejected the offer and accused the CLA of "downplaying" the issue by limiting the people who could attend.
Francis Ingham, PRCA director general, said: "While it’s a step in the right direction that they have agreed to meet us, we will have to decline under the terms that they have suggested.
"We feel that they are downplaying the importance of this meeting by excluding their board and attempting to limit the meeting to ‘two or three’ PRCA members. This is not the open, transparent and equitable meeting that we had in mind."
