CRB denies rehearing motions, spurs webcasters to action
·Apr 17, 11:01 PM
Posted by: Paul Maloney
From
an AP story in MarketWatch:
"Internet radio broadcasters were dealt a setback
Monday when a panel of copyright judges  threw
out requests to reconsider a ruling that raised the royalties
they must pay to record companies and artists.
"A broad group of public and private broadcasters,
including radio stations, small startup companies, National
Public Radio and major online sites like Yahoo
Inc. and Time Warner Inc.‘s AOL,
had objected to the new royalties set March 2, saying they would
force a drastic cutback in services
that are now enjoyed by some 50 million people.
Live365 CEO: New royalties
mean "there is no industry"
"In the latest ruling, the Copyright Royalty
Board judges denied all motions for rehearing and also declined
to postpone a May 15 deadline
by which the new royalties will have to be collected.
"However, they did grant leniency on one point,
allowing the broadcasters to calculate fees
by average listening hours, as they had been, as opposed
to the new system of charging a royalty each time every song is
heard by an online listener. That exemption counts for last year
and this year.  After
that, the new per-song, per-listener fee structure goes into effect.
"Many Webcasters say the sharply higher royalty
fees will put them out of business. Talk of the ruling dominated
a one-day meeting of Internet radio broadcasters being held in Las
Vegas [Pictured left: Kurt Hanson
speaks at the RAIN Summit in Las Vegas] alongside the annual
conference of the National
Association of Broadcasters, a group representing local
radio and TV stations.
"N. Mark Lam, chief executive of Live365
Inc., a privately held company that aggregates audio
streams from thousands of radio stations and other small webcasters,
said that under the new royalty rules, ‘there
is no industry,’…
Experts say legislative solution
more likely than help from Court
 "Also
on Monday, several Internet radio broadcasters announced
a campaign to raise awareness
of the issue and encourage listeners to
write to their representatives in Congress [SaveNetRadio.org,
see yesterday’s RAIN coverage here]…
"David Oxenford [right], a lawyer representing
several Webcasters, said the  next
step was likely an appeal to the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but he noted
that process could take at least a year. Meanwhile, he said, the
prospects of successfully getting a court to block
the decision of the royalty board judges is slim…
"Jonathan Potter [left], the head of the Digital
Media Association, which represents several large Webcasters
including Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft Corp.‘s
MSN network,
said his group was not currently in talks with SoundExchange
but may be soon. He said his group and other Webcasters would be
turning to Congress, where he said he sees ‘a
lot of legislative support.’"
Read the entire article at MarketWatch.
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