Hello
Last week I fond this news but today could forward to you. could this mean
that
American radio goe to the demise?
RIAA vs. Public Radio - Performance Rights Act Moves Ahead
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/86235/riaa-vs-public-radio-performance-rights-act-
moves-ahead/
If one were to frame this as a case of biting the hand that feeds it, there
would be
plenty of people who wouldn´t be surprised at the comparison. A bill in the
US is
moving ahead that would tack on a brand new tax onto public radio
broadcasters
where if radio plays music, they have even more royalty fees they have to
pay.
It´s not hard to see why the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of
America) wants
this bill passed. Just read this part of a PC Mag article:
Stations with annual revenues of less than $100,000 would pay a flat
fee of $500
each year. Stations with revenues between $100,000 and $500,000 would pay
$2,500, and those earning between $500,000 and $1.25 million would pay
$5,000
annually.
Stations making any more than that each year would have to negotiate
royalty
payments with the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), a government body that
sets
royalty rates.
Stations that gross less than $5 million per year would not be subject
to these fees
for three years, and stations making more than $5 million would not have to
pay for
one year.
Essentially, it would mean a brand new stream of revenue. The bill cleared
committee
with a 21 to 9 vote and is now moving to the House for a full vote.
Of course, the National Association of Broadcasters isn´t amused. There´s
some
history between radio broadcasters and the record industry. In a previous
incident
where the record industry demanded additional royalty payments from radio
broadcasters, the provision was that every time radios played their music,
the radio
stations would have to pay royalties to the labels. Once that became the
case, then
the radio broadcasters boycotted the major record labels and played
independent
music. Once the major record labels saw their music sales tank, they had to
renegotiate with the broadcasters again and were forced to back down on the
royalty
demands.
So what´s the difference between then and now? According to a summary from
Open
Congress, the Performance Rights Act, or H.R. 4789, the bill would
"establish a flat
annual fee in lieu of payment of royalties for individual terrestrial
broadcast stations
with gross revenues of less than $1.25 million and for non-commercial,
public
broadcast stations". Clearly, the record labels have learned from history
and the
broadcasters are not amused. Judging by the summary, you could play nothing
but
public domain Beethoven music all day long and still have to pay royalties
to the
record labels. Not hard to see why the National Association of Broadcasters
are
furious over this - it almost appears to be an existence tax.
As Techdirt notes, the history goes beyond just a royalty dispute.
Techdirt´s article
says, "of course, the most damning argument against the recording
industry´s
demand for money here is the fact that, for decades, the industry has
(illegally) had
the money go in the other direction. The system of payola has shown, quite
clearly,
how much the recording industry values airtime, in that it´s willing to pay
radio stations
to play its music.
So, can anyone explain why it´s illegal for record labels to pay radio
stations to play
music, but it´s okay for Congress to force radio stations to pay the record
labels for
playing their music? It defies common sense."
Techdirt goes as far as calling this an RIAA bailout, but other bloggers go
so far as to
calling this a Britney bailout.
As we´ve alluded to throughout the article, the National Association of
Broadcasters
aren´t entirely amused by the whole idea. They even started a website at
noperformancetax.org which has this to say:
In recent years, the record labels have seen sales of albums decline as
more
listeners opt for digital downloads. However, radio remains the number one
promotional vehicle for music - it´s not responsible for the label´s
resistance to the
digital age, and it shouldn´t be on the hook to fix it. Radio already
provides between
$1.5 to $2.4 billion dollars annually in music sales for artists and record
labels. By
pushing a tax on local radio, record labels are biting the hand that feeds
them.
Where does the money go?
In short, the money would flow out of your community and into the
pockets of the
record labels - the great majority of which are foreign-owned. The record
labels
would like for you to think this is all about compensating the artists, but
in truth the
record labels would get at least 50% of the proceeds from a tax on local
radio.
How does this affect me?
If you´re one of the 235 million people who listen to radio each week,
a tax could
reduce the variety of music radio stations play, and all but eliminate the
possibility of
new artists breaking onto the scene. The tax could particularly affect
smaller,
minority-owned stations, some of which may have to switch to a talk-only
format or
shut down entirely.
It also affects your community. Radio stations are major contributors
to public
service - generating $6 billion in public service annually and providing
vital news and
community information and free airtime to help local charities. If a tax
were imposed,
stations´ critical public and community service efforts could be reduced.
And worst of all, if you´re one of the 106,000 Americans employed by
local radio
your job could be in jeopardy. In these troubling economic times, the last
thing local
radio needs is to be hit with a tax that some analysts estimate could be
$2-7 billion
annually.
It´s hard to say where this is going to go, but one thing is for sure, any
movement on
this legislation is bound to create some fireworks given that there are two
huge US
associations butting heads over this.
Please read and distribute this 15 year research article
http://tinyurl.com/5vzg7e
Please read my article on SINPO at http://tinyurl.com/yt7qjd
________________________
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........
Zacharias Liangas , Thessaloniki Greece
greekdx @ otenet dot gr ---
Pesawat penerima: ICOM R75 , Lowe HF150 , Degen 1102,1103,108,
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