Here's the letter from webcasters (my version of Word couldn't open it, but it is a bit-for-bit copy of what I received): http://www.politechbot.com/docs/webcaster.music.letter.042202.doc
Here's the letter from members of Congress (WARNING: 1.8 MB): http://www.politechbot.com/docs/congress.music.letter.042202.pdf.gz Background from Politech archives: http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=carp -Declan --- CALIFORNIA WEBCASTERS ASK CONGRESS TO SAVE INTERNET RADIO FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Los Angeles - Twenty Members of Congress today including four from California in response to an arbitration panels recommendation of sound recording royalties for webcasters, urged the U.S. Library of Congress and the Copyright Office to ensure that the royalties do not devastate the webcast industry. Executives from six California-based Internet radio companies asked the California Congressional delegation to support a fair royalty regime for Internet radio, as the current rate being proposed, webcasters say, would put them out of business. Representatives Lofgren, Honda, Lantos and Eshoo have taken a stand for webcasters today, said Val Starr of Choice Radio (www.choiceradio.com) a multi-channel webcaster located in San Bruno, California, And more importantly they are supporting music-loving consumers in California who want to access diverse music and culture on the Internet. The California webcasting community's opposition against the arbitrators proposal has widespread support. Thousands of webcasters and consumers have recently appealed to the Congress and the Register of Copyrights, who is authorized to review (and possibly reject) the proposed royalty rate. The proposed fees would definitely put us out of business," said Bill Goldsmith, the owner of popular Paradise, California based adult rock station RadioParadise.com (www.radioparadise.com). "If that happens, everyone loses: our listeners, the artists we play, and the record labels themselves. We'd see two years of hard work and sacrifice go right down the drain. Webcasters want to pay royalties to recording artists, added David Landis, of Ultimate-80s, an all 1980s music format webcaster based in Los Angeles, CA (www.ultimate80s.com) But if super-high rates cause us to shut down, there will be no music, no royalties paid, and no money going to California recording artists. Goldsmith cautions against believing the press releases from the record industry which try to portray the fees as being affordable. "If you do the math, you'll see that not one webcaster - large or small - can cover these fees with their present levels of income." Both the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News have issued stinging editorials rejecting the proposal and urging the Register of Copyrights to adopt a more reasonable approach. Several members of Congress from California are on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees in Washington, said Choice Radios Starr. Hopefully, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Representative Howard Berman, who are senior members of those Committees, will feel our local industrys pain and recognize that the demise of small webcasters is bad for the Internet, bad for consumers and bad for recording artists. California is the birthplace of new media and a haven for cultural diversity, said Zack Zalon of Los Angeles, CAs Radio Free Virgin (www.radiofreevirgin.com), a webcasting station offering over 40 channels of various genres of music. California lawmakers must support the independence, diversity and creativity that online radio represents. Furthermore, in the absence of legitimate entertainment options such as online radio, pirate services will flourish and deny artists the dues that were all fighting for. Contact: David Landis at Ultimate-80s (323)782-8008 Bill Goldsmith at Radio Paradise (530)872-4993,(530)514-3173 Zack Zalon of Radio Free Virgin (323) 904-6155 Val Starr at Choice Radio (650) 872-2364 Rusty Hodge at Soma FM (415) 826-9500 John Jeffrey at Live 365 (650)345-7400, ext. 107 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sign this pro-therapeutic cloning petition: http://www.franklinsociety.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------
