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Internet Radio's 'Second Chance' Bogging Down in House
An anonymous reader writes "Wired is reporting that the Internet Radio Equality Act is failing fast in the House, with negotiations breaking down over fair pricing for internet radio broadcasters. 'A legislative setback could make it harder to dislodge the new fees, which took effect last month after a federal appeals court refused to postpone the payment deadline. With the threat of congressional backlash fading, SoundExchange could find little incentive to budge from its current position ... SoundExchange has already proposed changes that could relieve small and custom-streaming sites from charges they could not possibly afford to pay, at least in the short term. Many expect a small-webcaster deal to be done by early September, when Congress goes back into session. But the deal on the table hasn't changed since SoundExchange extended an offer in May to charge them 10 percent of gross revenue under $250,000, or 12 percent of gross revenues over $250,000, with a revenue cap at $1.25 million.'" All very cushy for SoundExchange. Wired also points out that this is the same organization illegally lobbying for terrestrial radio royalties through 'third party' shell groups.
I don't know if that was such a good idea. You know that this is how the RIAA started, yes? As the royalty-collector for artists.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but this is going to assume not, and if I'm wrong, I apologize in advance.
In New York City you can't eat any food with trans fatty acids, and in Chicago (which is probably more than 3 hours, but throwing it out here as an example), it gets tricky trying to get fois gras. And violent video games? Well, you can't play Manhunt 2...it was supposed to be released last month.
And even if those aren't things you care about, well, it's only a matter of time before they attack something you do.
From the beginning a legislative solution was unlikely because the issue was under the jurisdiction of the judiciary committee in the house, and the chairman of the subcommittee it was referred to was Howard Berman. Berman is a copyright warrior, with little or no sympathy for the arguments of the internet radio broadcasters. The Inslee bill in the house(Internet Radio Equality Act) has little or no chance of going anywhere, particularly now that Congress has entered its August recess. However, there is a silver lining to all of this, even though legislation cannot come to the aid of the webcasters, many compromises have been made between soundexchange and internet radio. The webcasters only wanted to hold the threat of legislation over the heads of soundexchange in order to secure from them fair terms from their negotiations. The Inslee bill forced soundexchange to come to the table, and sit down face to face with internet radio. So even if the Inslee bill fails, there is still a good chance that a compromise can be achieved. Either way soundexchange realizes that, despite the Copyright Royalty Board decision, it cannot charge fees that would destroy the internet radio industry without destroying itself. So while webcasters may generally see an increase in the fees they pay(mind you the fees have not changed for several years, and though the CRB rates are egregiously high, an increase was over due), it should not be so significantly different as to force them out of business.
RTFA. Soundexchange is a nonprofit authorized by 17 USC 114 (g) (3) to collect royalties on behalf of sound recording copyright owners, on an opt-out basis. With that privilege come certain restrictions on how it may spend the royalties it collects. Hiring lobbying firms and PR flacks is not on the list of approved expenditures. This is no more a First Amendment violation than a Department of Defense contractor NDA is.