Category Archives: Fight CARP

Webcaster Alliance Files Anti-trust Suit Against RIAA

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Small Webcasters sue giant record labels
In the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
(Thanks, Paul.)

The suit, filed by San Jose attorney Perry Narancic on behalf of the nonprofit alliance, also names RIAA members Universal Music Group Inc., Warner Music Group Inc., Bertelsmann Music Group Inc., Sony Music Entertainment Inc. and Capitol-EMI Music Inc., which together sell eight out of 10 recordings in the United States.
Webcaster Alliance‘s allegations stem from a 2002 agreement between RIAA and Santa Clara-based Internet portal Yahoo over royalty payments for music transmitted over the Internet. The alliance says the agreement could harm distribution of independent music that competes with RIAA material.
“The RIAA agenda is patently clear,” says Ann Gabriel, president of Webcaster Alliance. “We have watched the RIAA’s actions which have the effect of wiping out an entire industry of independent Webcasters who represent freedom of choice and diversity for Internet radio listeners. It is time for the RIAA to be held accountable for years of manipulating an entire industry in order to stifle the growth of independent music and control Internet content and distribution channels.”

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Webcasting Rates and Terms Agreement Reached Between RIAA/SoundExchange and the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System

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A group of non-commercial webcasters including American Council on
Education (ACE), Collegiate Broadcasters, Inc. (CBI), Intercolegiate
Broadcasting System (IBS), Harvard Radio Broadcasting (WHRB) and National
Religious Broadcasters Music License Committee (NRBMLC) reached an
agreement over the weekend with the RIAA/SoundExchange on rates and terms
for webcasting.

IBS Announcement

A low fixed price agreement has been reached that also provides for no reporting/recordkeeping for participating IBS Member radio stations/webcasters. The period covered by the agreement is October 1998 through December 31, 2004…

Here’s a PDF of the agreement.
Here are the rate specs from the “rates and terms” that were published today:

(1) $200 for the period beginning on October 28, 1998, and ending on
December 31, 1999 (which shall be treated as one year for purposes of
these Rates and Terms);
(2) $250 for each of the years 2000 through 2003; and
(3) $500 for 2004, except in the case of an NEE that is, or is affiliated
with, an educational institution with fewer than 10,000 enrolled students,
in which case the minimum fee shall be $250.
(b) Other Noncommercial Webcasters Transmitting a Single Channel. Except
as provided in Section 3(c) and subject to Section 4, each Noncommercial
Webcaster that is not an NEE shall pay nonrefundable minimum annual fees
as set forth below for all or any portion of a year in which it made or
makes any digital audio transmissions of sound recordings under the
section 114 statutory license (whether a Broadcaster Simulcast, an
Internet-only transmission or otherwise):
(1) $200 for the period beginning on October 28, 1998, and ending on
December 31, 1999 (which shall be treated as one year for purposes of
these Rates and Terms);
(2) $250 for 2000;
(3) $300 for 2001, except in the case of a Noncommercial Webcaster
substantially all of the programming of which is reasonably classified as
news, talk, sports or business programming, in which case the minimum fee
shall be $250;
(4) $350 for 2002, except in the case of a Noncommercial Webcaster
substantially all of the programming of which is reasonably classified as
news, talk, sports or business programming, in which case the minimum fee
shall be $250;
(5) $400 for 2003, except in the case of a Noncommercial Webcaster
substantially all of the programming of which is reasonably classified as
news, talk, sports or business programming, in which case the minimum fee
shall be $250; and
(6) $500 for 2004, except in the case of a Noncommercial Webcaster
substantially all of the programming of which is reasonably classified as
news, talk, sports or business programming, in which case the minimum fee
shall be $250.
(c) Noncommercial Webcasters Transmitting Multiple Channels.
Notwithstanding Section 3(a) or (b) as applicable, the nonrefundable
minimum annual fee shall be $500 for each year (as identified in Section
3(a)(1) through (3) or 3(b)(1) through (6)) for any Noncommercial
Webcaster that made or makes digital audio transmissions of sound
recordings on more than one channel or station of programming; provided
that –
(1) if the digital audio transmissions of sound recordings over any
channels or stations in excess of one consist only of “Incidental
Performances” (as defined in Section 9(f)), the nonrefundable minimum
annual fee shall be as provided in Section 3(a) or (b) as applicable;
(2) if substantially all of the programming of all of a Noncommercial
Webcaster’s channels and stations is reasonably classified as news, talk,
sports or business programming, the minimum fee shall be $250;

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Marybeth Finally Gets Some News Coverage

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The ‘Marybeth’ that I’m singing to in my James and Marybeth song is finally getting some media attention.
See why what she thinks is so important guys?
I wonder if she’s heard my song…

She Holds the Cards in Copyright Fight
By for the LA Times

Peters believes that many “fair-use” practices consumers take for granted, such as taping a TV program or copying a magazine article, need to be reevaluated in the digital age because the economic harm to copyright owners is far greater. For instance, she agrees with court rulings that Napster-style song swapping over the Internet is illegal.
“Some of the activities you tolerate in a non-digital world are because of the inefficiency of making the copy, how the copy is degraded, and the difficulty in sending copies to someone beyond yourself,” Peters said. “All of those things go away in a digital environment.”
As Congress has deferred some of the stickiest questions to the Copyright Office, Peters finds herself in the uncomfortable position of having to set many of the ground rules for the digital age and, in some ways, pick the winners.

…Peters says she strives to be fair and consider all viewpoints but is limited by statutes set by Congress.
Some would like to see Peters become more active in negotiating a truce in the copyright battle. But she said that is not her role, unless Congress asks.
“We’ve offered on more than one occasion to take on an assignment from Congress to try to get the parties together to see if they could come up with some guidelines for uses under the fair-use doctrine,” Peters said. “Nobody took us up on it.”

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The Time To Save Internet Radio Is Now

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I know I just asked you to send a letter to try and stop this war, but it turns out that an Internet Radio Bill was introduced last week (HR 5469) that is basically the legislation we’ve been waiting for to be introduced, has been!
This six month freeze and call for new rates is basically what I was asking for in the song I wrote to James H. Billington and Marybeth Peters.
This thing gets voted on early this week — making it really important that you fax a letter out to your Representative by Monday morning at the latest!
Thanks for checking it out and spreading the word:
The Rifle Shot
Contact your U.S. Rep NOW! .

CNN On The College Webcasting Crisis

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Meanwhile, college webcasting continues to hang in the balance.
See CNN’s: Net radio fees threaten college webcasts –
New royalty rates too steep for most school stations

For college stations and other nonprofit webcasters, the fees work out to two cents per listener per 100 songs, plus an 8.8 percent surcharge to cover temporary copies of music needed for streaming.
So a station playing 12 songs an hour around the clock would owe $23 per listener each year. Averaging 21 simultaneous listeners keeps the station at the $500 annual minimum. Beyond that, the station has to pay extra.

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