Amid the storm of Congressional activity dealing with the financial crisis, lawmakers are managing to address a bill that would allow Webcasters to renegotiate royalty rates and terms other than those determined by the
Copyright Royalty Board in its May 2007 decision.
If passed Monday by the Senate, the bill, H.R. 7084, the "Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008," would facilitate a reduction in Internet streaming rates.
A number of Webcasters have publicly complained that the fees were so onerous they would likely force many to go out of business. The rate structure for 2008 is $.0014 per performance; that cost goes up in 2009 to $.0018 per performance and in 2010 to $.0019 per performance. It is estimated that by 2010, Internet Radio royalty fees will be about 180 percent higher than those of satellite radio. A "performance" is considered to be the streaming of one song to one listener; the minimum fee is $500 per channel per year.
Webcasting refers to media files distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology. Many news organizations have Webcasting features; popular Internet radio sites, such as Pandora, use Webcasting technology to broadcast music.
Essentially, the bill will let SoundExchange, the organization that collects royalties on behalf of the music industry, to reach a settlement with the Digital Media Association, the national trade organization for the online audio and video industries.
