Save Internet Radio
Just found out that the Copyright Royalty Board, the federal board appointed by Congress to set royalty rates on music (among other things), has decided to change how Internet radio broadcasters are charged for broadcasting copyrighted music. Instead of the current percentage-of-profit approach, broadcasters will now be charged per-listener, per-song. This will destroy Internet radio for several reasons:
- Rates will skyrocket more than 30% year over year for several years under the new plan.
- For most Internet radio stations, the fee schedule will represent over 100% of their revenues.
- The change is retroactively effective to the beginning of 2006.
It’s also worth noting that by charging retroactively to the beginning of 2006, this could be considered an unconstitutional ex post facto law.
This may also have implications for terrestrial radio stations that broadcast online, like Christian radio giant Air1. I’ve contacted them for more details.
In the meantime, I encourage everyone to visit Save Our Internet Radio for more information and then sign the petition to protect Internet radio.
May 11th, 2007 06:56
[...] I wrote earlier on the injustice of the Copyright Royalty Board’s recent retroactive ruling regarding internet radio. I just heard back yesterday from Kenneth Turner at EMF Broadcasting, the corporation behind Air 1 and K-LOVE. Here’s what he had to say: I appreciate your concern. At this time, it’s too early to tell what, if any, impact this would have on Air 1. That said, we are working diligently with the various parties involved and hope to come to an reasonable solution. [...]