Webcasters’ cries of impending bankruptcy were answered in a Hous...
Webcasters’ cries of impending bankruptcy were answered in a House bill that would cancel the Copyright Royalty Board decision raising webcasting rates across the board and limiting payment to a per-song standard above a threshold. Reps. Inslee (D-Wash.) and…
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Manzullo (R-Ill.) introduced the Internet Radio Equality Act, which would set royalty rates at 7.5% of revenue 2006-2010 and scrap the per-song standard. Services could also choose to pay 0.33 cents per hour of songs streamed to a single listener. The bill would also have the NTIA director prepare a report for the CRB on the “competitiveness of the Internet radio marketplace” and the effect of proposed rates. The FCC would be called on to report to the CRB regarding the proposed rates’ effect on: (1) Localism, diversity and competition in rural areas. (2) Diversity of programming, including by language. (3) Competitive barriers to entry in the Internet radio market. CPB would submit a report concerning its licensees and permittees. The Digital Media Assn. (DiMA) hailed the bill, saying it could “save thousands of webcasters from bankruptcy” they're doomed to otherwise when the board’s rates take effect May 15. Satellite radio pays 7.5% of revenue, DiMA said, and the flat-rate standard is also used by “jukeboxes and sound recordings.” Exec. Dir. Jon Potter said: “This bill may be Internet radio’s last best hope.” He called for quick congressional action. The bill would ensure that “public broadcasting has a place in the media landscape by modernizing” the law “for the 21st century,” an NPR spokeswoman said. Public radio has been recognized since 1976 as unable to pay “commercial-level royalty rates,” she said: “This bill will provide a long term resolution that is fair for all sides.” The SaveNetRadio coalition said “Congress took notice” of the hubbub it raised through listeners, webcasters and artists. The bill will help webcasting compete with satellite radio, the coalition’s Jake Ward said. The CRB’s “illogical and unrealistic royalty rates… have placed the future of an entire industry in jeopardy,” he said.