Congress' war on 'net radio
By: Amy Robertson
Issue date: 6/14/07 Section: Opinion
D-Day is upon us. Although better known for marking the start of the Battle of Normandy on June 6, 1944, D-Day has now been rescheduled to July 15, 2007, in the minds of many small Internet radio Webcasting companies.
It is on this day that U.S. Webcasters will owe up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in artist royalties, forcing some to shut their World Wide Web doors and pushing many towards bankruptcy.
Currently, Webcasters large and small pay royalties to the artists, record labels and songwriters of the songs they broadcast, which is far from the singular royalty terrestrial radio stations pay to only the songwriters.
Internet companies can choose between paying a percentage of their revenue or paying a set rate per aggregated tuning hour. This means that if one person listens to an online Webcast for an hour, the company pays a small fee for that hour. If 10 people listen to that station for 10 hours each, the company pays for 100 hours.
However, when those set guidelines for royalty payments recently expired, the Copyright Royalty Board came up with a new plan of action.
Now Webcasters will have to pay a rate for each song played, with a minimum of $500 per channel they operate. The problem with the per-channel rate is that a Webcasting site may include dozens of different channels, which already are hard to define.
According to the Radio and Internet Newsletter Web site for noncommercial Webcasters, "the fee will be $500 per channel, for up to 159,140 ATH [aggregate tuning hours] per month. They would pay the commercial rate for all transmissions above that number," which may prove to be a problem for many popular public broadcasters such as KCRW, a Santa Monica-based public broadcast radio station.
"KCRW has the largest online audience of any single terrestrial U.S. radio station," said Sarah Spitz, the station's publicity director and producer. "What we object to is that the CRB ruling does not distinguish between commercial and noncommercial web/broadcasters. Public broadcasting's goal is to reach as many people as possible; this ruling punishes us financially for being successful."
It is on this day that U.S. Webcasters will owe up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in artist royalties, forcing some to shut their World Wide Web doors and pushing many towards bankruptcy.
Currently, Webcasters large and small pay royalties to the artists, record labels and songwriters of the songs they broadcast, which is far from the singular royalty terrestrial radio stations pay to only the songwriters.
Internet companies can choose between paying a percentage of their revenue or paying a set rate per aggregated tuning hour. This means that if one person listens to an online Webcast for an hour, the company pays a small fee for that hour. If 10 people listen to that station for 10 hours each, the company pays for 100 hours.
However, when those set guidelines for royalty payments recently expired, the Copyright Royalty Board came up with a new plan of action.
Now Webcasters will have to pay a rate for each song played, with a minimum of $500 per channel they operate. The problem with the per-channel rate is that a Webcasting site may include dozens of different channels, which already are hard to define.
According to the Radio and Internet Newsletter Web site for noncommercial Webcasters, "the fee will be $500 per channel, for up to 159,140 ATH [aggregate tuning hours] per month. They would pay the commercial rate for all transmissions above that number," which may prove to be a problem for many popular public broadcasters such as KCRW, a Santa Monica-based public broadcast radio station.
"KCRW has the largest online audience of any single terrestrial U.S. radio station," said Sarah Spitz, the station's publicity director and producer. "What we object to is that the CRB ruling does not distinguish between commercial and noncommercial web/broadcasters. Public broadcasting's goal is to reach as many people as possible; this ruling punishes us financially for being successful."
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The Archives
Viewing Comments 1 - 7 of 8
Casey Lonewolf
posted 6/15/07 @ 4:14 PM EST
I have notified my two senators and one
house member in congress, and received the usual partial form-letter response that this matter "has been referred to committee", and . (Continued…)
Jay Dee
posted 6/16/07 @ 1:00 AM EST
"The act proposes that Internet radio pay the same royalties that satellite radio does, which is 7.5 percent of total revenues."
If you make no revenue . (Continued…)
Vince Holmen
posted 6/16/07 @ 1:31 PM EST
I have contacted my senator (Minnesota) and she said she will support the Internet Radio Equality Act
Brian Shadwill
posted 6/16/07 @ 11:36 PM EST
I've also notified my congress rep's and senators and signed the large SaveNetRadio petition along with my wife and friend's.
I just hope that Webcasters hold out, and ignore the rates and will continue to go on without paying a dime until the House/Senate both pass their bill's. (Continued…)
Steve Sikes-Nova
posted 6/17/07 @ 2:36 AM EST
Thank you, Amy Robertson, for writing this article. I am one of the small webcasters affected by this disreputable decision - 'Newgrass, Prog & More! Web Radio and Interviews' on Live365. (Continued…)
Henrik
posted 6/17/07 @ 6:13 AM EST
Internet radio is a great way to brings culture to all people in the world.
I need it to life my live !!!! PLZ PLZ save The internetradio for the whole world. (Continued…)
Becca
posted 6/26/07 @ 3:42 AM EST
When is this going to end? We give billions and then some to every country except America,then we have the war that also costs Trillions...So Bush and Congress take it out on us music lover's. (Continued…)
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