Songwriters Notes
Information for San Diego Songwriting community.
3/23/2007
Copyright Royalty Board Decision May Mean Fewer Sources for Independent Music
Future of Music Coalition responds to CRB's webcasting rate decision
March 13, 2007
On March 4, 2007, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) announced new royalty rates for webcasts, effective from 2006 to 2010. The retroactive rate for 2006 was set at
$0.0008 per song per user, with rates increasing annually to:
$.0011 (2007) per song, per user
$.0014 (2008) per song, per user
$.0018 (2009) per song, per user
$.0019 (2010) per song, per user.
The rates set by the CRB are in line with those suggested by SoundExchange, the agency designated by the Copyright Office to collect and distribute digital performance royalties. Critics of these higher royalty rates say that these fees could be equal to or greater than many small internet stations’ total revenues, an untenable position that would force many existing stations offline.
In response to this announcement, FMC urges stakeholders "small webcasters, commercial webcasters, artists, SoundExchange " to work together to strike a balance that recognizes the value of webcasting, but also properly compensates artists, performers and labels for uses of their work. While the proposed method of calculating rates based on gross revenue may work for many of the larger commercial webcasters, it's unlikely there will ever be a "one size fits all" resolution to rate calculations. Nobody benefits if small webcasting stations, those that are the most likely to represent the richest diversity of music available, are forced offline because of an inability to pay the proposed licensing fees. A structure and process that sets reasonable rates for different but clearly defined categories of webcasters would be the best strategy.
FMC has participated in the majority of the prior webcasting rate and reporting requirement proceedings.[1] During each prior proceeding we have emphasized the same basic principles:
[1] In April 2002, FMC filed comments in the US Copyright Office's NPRM on reporting requirements: http://www.futureofmusic.org/news/CARPrecordingreqs.cfm
We also filed reply comments in this proceeding, underscoring the undue burden that many proposed reporting requirements would have on small webcasters and questioning the feasibility of the proposed "listener logs". http://www.futureofmusic.org/news/CARPreplycomments.cfm
In the same month, responding to widespread confusion about the rulemaking process, FMC published an easy-to-read CARP Fact Sheet that described the webcast license proceedings, as well as royalty and reporting requirements. http://www.futureofmusic.org/CARPfactsheet.cfm
In May 2002, FMC's Executive Director Jenny Toomey participated in the Copyright Office Roundtable. FMC's testimony underscored the need for multiple licensing levels that recognized the difference between large commercial, small commercial, noncommercial, and hobbyist webcasters. We also called for reasonable reporting requirements and the automation of the reporting process, and we urged the Copyright Office to drop the use of ephemeral copy logs and the threat of perjury for non-reporting.
http://www.futureofmusic.org/news/CARProundtable.cfm
FMC expanded on this notion and filed testimony in the Senate Commerce Committee May 15 hearing, Copyright Royalties: Where is the Right Spot On The Dial For Webcasting?
http://www.futureofmusic.org/news/senatejudiciarywebcasting.cfm
posted by San Diego Songwriter's Guild # 9:04 AM
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