The Horsham Carols by Candlelight online event has been cancelled after facing financial hurdles with copyright laws.
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Event co-ordinator Simon Dandy said the event's copyright fees of about $30,000, was "unrealistic" for a small volunteer organisation.
"It has come to our attention with copyright laws that if you are pre-recording an event and streaming it online, you have to get rights from all of the publishers of the music," he said.
"Without those rights, you expose yourself to hefty penalties and fines if you don't follow the law.
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"When you are streaming pre-recorded material you need a synchronisation license, and you have to go to the publishers of every song.
"We have done all of the right things and followed the laws, and our potential fee for doing the show in its current format is heading towards $30,000 and rising."
"We are a voluntary association and we haven't got the means or the capacity to pay that amount," Mr Dandy said.
"We had done the filming and editing ... the time we spent on the event was huge.
"I think people would have been really proud of what we had done. We went above and beyond."
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