Posted by chicagomedia.org on February 18, 2009 at 15:54:14:
No Deal Yet Between SoundExchange And Webcasters
February 18, 2009 | FMQB
While the NAB and SoundExchange have reached a new deal on Internet streaming of terrestrial radio, the rates for Web-only radio are still up in the air. According to reports, the Digital Media Association (DiMA) and SoundExchange had an agreement in place that fell apart in the past week, leaving them without a deal at the February 15 deadline. DiMA includes RealNetworks, Pandora, MTV and many other webcasters.
In a statement, DiMA Executive Director Jonathan Potter said the sides were "unable to resolve our principled differences regarding the applicability of sound recording performance royalties to various activities of multifaceted online companies, particularly when those activities and their revenue are not directly associated with the performance of sound recordings." PaidContent.org reports that RealNetworks wants to ensure it is only paying royalties on streaming music, not its gaming or video revenue.
The next step is an appeal of the 2007 decision by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which set the higher royalty rates that have been debated for the past two years. The appeal is slated for next month.
As previously reported, the NAB and SoundExchange reached an agreement on Internet streaming rates for local radio stations that simulcast over the Internet or that create new stand-alone Internet stations. The agreement provides discounts on the previously set rates for 2009 and 2010 and establishes set rates for the future, from 2011 to 2015. Rates for simulcasts or web channels operated by local stations are now reduced in 2009 and 2010 by approximately 16 percent. They will increase gradually through 2015 from $0.0015 per streamed sound recording in 2009 to $0.0025 per stream by 2015.