Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., offered and then withdrew an Internet...
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., offered and then withdrew an Internet radio amendment to an intellectual-property bill at a Senate Judiciary Committee markup Thursday. The amendment, which large webcasters had expected (CD May 15 p3), would give Internet radio services…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
“parity” with cable and satellite platforms on royalty rates by reducing obligations set last year by the Copyright Royalty Board. “If something isn’t done a lot of these folks are going to be driven out” of business, Brownback said. “There’s not much… of a payment stream” for Internet radio to pay the higher rates from, he said, alluding to webcasters’ theme that intrusive advertising on streams would alienate listeners. Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., endorsed the amendment’s aims but asked Brownback to wait for a “better place to raise this” -- namely a proposed hearing for Leahy’s Performance Rights Act (S-2500), which would end terrestrial broadcasters’ exemption from paying performance royalties. That bill hasn’t been touched since it was introduced (CD Dec 19 p12). Brownback said Internet radio deserves its own hearing. Leahy agreed, saying “we will try to find a way.” Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., asked Leahy to include her PERFORM Act in the hearing. That bill, inactive the entire 110th Congress, would set parity between platforms, use a “fair-market value” standard to set rates, and most controversially require manufacturers to use “readily available and cost-effective technology” to stop unauthorized distribution, such as by recording songs on satellite radio players ( (CD Jan 12/07 p8).. Leahy said he may want to handle the royalty-related bills in a subcommittee hearing first.