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http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=445
Copyright Office nixes high royalties
By ron carlson, Insanely Great Mac
May 21st 2002
Internet broadcasters breath a sigh of relief as the Librarian of Congress and the US
Copyright Office reject an arbitration panel''s recommendations
Reuters is reporting that the US Copyright Office has rejected royalty rates proposed
by the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP) for Internet broadcasters and said
it would come up with a final royalty within a month.
Online radio stations have repeatedly said they would be bankrupted by the proposed
rate -- 14/100ths of a cent per listener per song (i.e. US$1.40 per 1,000 listeners
per song) that was proposed by a special arbitration panel in February.
Unlike conventional radio stations, Webcasters must pay per-song royalties to the
performers and recording companies whose songs they use. They had protested that the
arbitration panel''s proposed rates were too high and could force many of them out of
business, pressing their case with a one-day blackout and dogged lobbying.
The US Copyright Office has given no indication whether the final rates would be
higher or lower than those recommended by the panel.
"Today''s decision by the Librarian offers hope that the final royalty will be more in
line with marketplace economics than was the arbitrators'' proposal," Jonathan Potter,
executive director of the Digital Media Association, a trade group that includes
Webcasters told Reuters.
Streamed mp3s can be accessed using MacAMP Lite X and iTunes, and most "stations"
broadcast music 24/7 without commentary, news or commercial interruptions.
Analysis: This is a temporary reprieve, but likely presages final rates that are lower
than those proposed by CARP, which some broadcaster said "stinks like bad fish." It
seems rather odd that the rates paid by traditional over-the-air broadcasters aren''t
being applied to online broadcasters as well. Although I haven''t been able to unearth
the reasoning behind this lack of continuity, I suspect that it''s yet another attempt
by the RIAA and their cohorts to wring more money from their dying business model.
Post your comments at:
http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=445
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