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OXENFORD: ADDITIONAL ROYALTY FOR WEBCASTERS?: Attorney David Oxenford writes that a new U.S. Copyright Office notice may open up webcasters to yet another royalty. The CO has issued a notice that non-interactive streaming “could” fall under Section 115 of the Copyright Act, which involves a royalty paid to music publishers for the reproduction of music. Section 115 clearly covers music which is digitally transmitted and is reproduced in the process (e.g., buying a track from iTunes), but originally excluded webcast streams because no reproduction is taking place. The CO argues that reproduction does take place, however, because of the “buffer and RAM copies necessary to make the stream audible.” However, says Oxenford, “the Copyright Office seemed to recognize that this could be very controversial, and states that it takes no position as to the value of the Section 115 right that it finds to exist. That would be left to the Copyright Royalty Board… and the Board could well determine that the copies made in the case of noninteractive streaming have no value at all.” For more, read Oxenford’s full coverage here.

POGUE TO PRESENT NAB AUSTIN KEYNOTE: New York Times technology columnist and Emmy Award-winning “CBS News Sunday Morning” correspondent David Pogue will be the keynote speaker at the NAB’s Austin Radio Show. He will reportedly discuss the opportunities for radio amongst developing technology. For more, read Radio Business Report’s coverage here.

LAST.FM RENOVATES: Last.fm has overhauled its website, adding not only a cleaner look but new features as well. Where before, users had to scrobble listens in order to add artists and tracks to their library, now they can simply click on links under artists or tracks. The entire site has taken on a sleek, stream-lined feel. However, the service is now sluggish—a fact we noticed after five unsuccessful radio launches even before being seconded by MediaPost’s observations. The CBS-owned site has recently launched an iPhone application (RAIN coverage here), as well as a controversial unsigned artist royalty program (RAIN coverage here). For more, read MediaPost’s coverage of the redesign here.

LOVETT “NEVER MADE A DIME” FROM ALBUM SALES: Despite selling 4.6 million albums in the United States since 1991, country singer/songwriter Lyle Lovett (pictured) claims he has “never made a dime” from his record sales. Lovett testified before Congress asking for a broadcast radio performance royalty, joining other artists such as Nancy Sinatra. NAB Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton commented on the matter, stating, “We are not surprised to learn that a musician of Lyle Lovett’s stature has never been compensated by his record label for album sales…Before enacting a law that could transfer up to $7B from America’s hometown radio stations to foreign-owned record labels, Congress needs to hold the labels accountable for their decades-long exploitation and abuse of musicians.” For more, read Radio Business Report’s coverage here.

TEXT MESSAGES MOST RECALLED MOBILE MARKETING TECHNIQUE: In its first study on mobile marketing techniques, The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) found that text messaging is the most recalled method. Text messages had a 70% response rate, compared to 41% for surveys and 30% for email offers. “These findings suggest that mobile marketing will continue growing into a multi-billion dollar industry as more mobile phone users are enticed by falling prices to purchase data plans and broadband enabled devices,” said DMA’s VP of Research & Market Intelligence Edward T. Manzitti. For more, read Radio Business Report’s coverage here.

RAIN ANALYSIS: This is good news for radio mobile ad companies, such as HipCricket (RAIN coverage here), which put text message ads at the forefront of their listener-interaction campaigns. Additionally, if text messaging continues to be shown as a viable advertising method, it may suggest that Internet radio delivered through mobile devices could be supported by such ads. — MS

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