As a $700 billion bailout agreement for the financial sector occupies much of Congress' remaining time, lawmakers are also apparently considering legislation that would let negotiations for new performance royalty rates continue it adjourns.
Webcasters applauded H.R. 7084 (the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008), which would give representatives of record labels and webcasters time to try to hammer out "alternative royalty rates" that would result in the ones determined by the Copyright Royalty Board being overridden in certain instances.
(The National Association of Broadcasters is trying to get the billstruck down – see update below for more on that).
The bill is "scheduled to be considered today" in the House of Representatives, according to the Digital Media Organization (DiMA), which itself represents webcasters from Amazon to YouTube. The proposed act wouldn't change the royalty rates themselves, but would merely give webcasters and SoundExchange a legal way to implement agreements reached during negotiations while Congress is out of session.
SoundExchange and the RIAA are said to support the bill in addition to DiMA and National Public Radio – a combination of interests that should speed its passage, assuming such a thing is possible given that Congress is so busy debating details of the bailout behind closed doors.
"Passage of this bipartisan legislation will ensure that the progress innegotiations over the last several weeks between webcasters andSoundExchange can continue and, we hope, lead to a solution that allowsInternet radio to survive and thrive," stated SaveNetRadio Coalition spokesman Jake Ward.
According to the DiMA, the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008 would "will benefit all webcasters, including NPR, collegewebcasters, small webcasters and broadcasters who put their stations onthe Internet."
As important as this bill could be for the legions of music fans who've grown to know and love various forms of webcasting, it's great that lawmakers are seeing to this.
Update: Multiple sources tell us that the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), whichrepresents AM, FM and other broadcasters, is urging members of Congress to oppose this bill. If webcasters are able to negotiate a more workable rate before the end of the year, radio stations would almost certainly face increased competition from webcasters, so NAB's opposition stands to reason. CongressDaily's Tech Daily Dose reports that "a source close to the issue [said] lobbyists for AM
and FM radio are worried about competition from webcasters, andextinguishing the bill would throw a wrench into the royalty talks."
Nonetheless, NAB denies that its member radio stations are worried about competing with webcasters under a different royalty rate scheme, although he did confirm that his organization is trying to kill this bill. NAB's Dennis Wharton claimed to CongressDaily that any lobbying activity "has nothing to do with NAB not wanting to compete with Pandora andLive365. We compete with them every day" and that terrestrial broadcasters have "concerns related to Congress attempting to fast-tracka bill introduced less than 24 hours ago that could have seriousimplications for broadcasters, webcasters, and consumers of music. NAB spent more than a year trying to work out an equitable agreementon webcasting rates, only to be stonewalled by SoundExchange and therecord labels."
Ironically, considering NAB's swift opposition to this bill, NAB CEO David Rehr said just last week during a NAB Radio Show address in Austin, Texas, "NAB has been working to address the outrageous Copyright Royalty Board decision that dramatically increases streaming rates," according to Radio and Internet Newsletter's Kurt Hanson. I guess that must have been an old speech, because NAB wants this bill, which would help address the CRB royalty rates Rehr himself called "outrageous" just last week.
Pandora co-founder Tim Westergren sent e-mail Friday night to Pandora users urging them to call their Congressional representatives at 202-225-3121 and ask them to back the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008: "we needjust a bit more time to negotiate a royalty agreement that will letPandora [and other webcasters] survive."
See Also:
- Advocates Demand Congress Put Bailout Details on Internet
- Rep. Barney Frank predicts bailout deal by Sunday
- U.S. Copyright Royalty Board Rejects Webcasters, Embraces SoundExchange
- Copyright Royalty Board Upholds "Disastrous" Royalty Rates
- U.S. Copyright Royalty Board Rejects Webcasters, Embraces SoundExchange
- Royalty Hike Panics Webcasters
- Webcasters Tell SoundExchange Its Deal Stinks
- Royalty Logic Seeks To Prove Copyright Board Unconstitutional
- DiMA and SoundExchange Trade Blows (Plus Weeklong Summary)
Photo: Rev. Santino
