In a slightly confusing and obviously fluid set of developments, webcasters or net radio stations have dodged a deadly bullet following 11th hour negotiations between record company-backed Sound Exchange and net radio representatives. A deal has been struck not to enforce new royalty rates ordered by the Copyright Royalty Board that would have jacked up beyond sustainability royalties that online radio stations have to pay.
However, reports of the closed-door negotiations that took place on Capitol Hill yesterday say that a deal has been struck that, in lieu of paying new royalty rates that are 300% to 1200% higher than they were before, net radio stations now are apparently capped at $50,000 per station per year in royalties. The current scheme, a stay of which a federal appeals court shot down earlier this week, is slated to go into effect on Sunday, with payments due on Monday.
But the SaveNetRadio coalition is nonetheless keeping the heat on Congress to pass a bill, The Internet Radio Equality Act. The group sent out emails this morning urging listeners to contact their Senators in an apparent effort to move the legislation out of the Judiciary Committee. The bill would nullify the CRB’s original March 2007 decision that resulted in the rate hikes.
Despite the apparent negotiated waiver of payments between Sound Exchange and the net radio industry, the CRB ruling still stands, leaving webcasters in a precarious situation, subject to the whims of Sound Exchange. On the other hand, Sound Exchange, and the recorded music industry more generally, faces a potentially bloody grassroots and Congressional fight if the rates go into effect and they may want to save their political firepower for a more important battle.
Cynthia Brumfield at 10:47 AM|Comments(0)
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