Music publishers Nigel Elderton and Johnny Lappin have both been appointed positions as President of the Music Publishers Association of Ireland (MPAI), and Chairman of the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society of Ireland Limited (MCPSI), respectively.

MPAI announced the appointment of the President following their recent AGM. Elderton, the European President and of peermusic, was also reappointed as the Chairman of PRS for Music earlier this year. In 2005, he was awarded the Gold Badge of Distinction by The Ivors Academy, and in 2007, he was invited to become a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts. He has also been awarded the Music Publishers Association's highest honour, the MPA Gold Badge.

The appointment of Johnny Lappin as Chairman of the MCPSI, meanwhile, follows a recent Board meeting of the company. One of Ireland's pioneering music publishers, and a self-described "copyright warrior", Lappin published his memoir, In A Lifetime: From Hozier to U2, last year. The book chronicles his journey throughout the course of his career, as he became a leading light in Irish music publishing, a valued IMRO members, an acclaimed lecturer and a tireless campaigner for the rights of Irish musicians.

Both Elderton and Lappin will assume these positions with immediate effect.

In a statement announcing the appointments, the Boards of both the MPAI and the MCPSI noted that they "are committed to the development of a fair copyright regime in Ireland that adequately compensates creators and the right holders who invest in them."