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Judges to webcasters: pay up
Despite a huge outcry from the internet radio community over new royalty rates set to take effect on May 15th, a panel of judges has rejected a request to reconsider those rates.The Copyright Royalty Board decided not to postpone the May 15th implementation date, or to hear an appeal. The judges did agree to let webcasters temporarily calculate fees by average listening hours, rather than by each time a listener hears a song.
But that's not going to be enough to save many small and non-profit webcasters like Pandora, Last.fm and Radio Paradise who say the new rates could put them out of business. A coalition of internet broadcasters will continue to push Congress for intervention, but the chances of any action being taken before May 15th are slim.
[via Techdirt]
Comments
11
Subscribe to commentsKenApr 17th 2007 12:32AM
The depth of the RIAA's short-sidedness and ignorance about the uses of network technology is frankly mindboggling. I have been a subscriber to Last.fm for almost two years; I often use their "neighborhood radio" to discover new music, that I then purchase through iTunes. If this service is priced into extinction, no doubt my purchases will decline as well. Babosos.
SMApr 17th 2007 12:58AM
Another loss...is there really no hope?
MorganApr 17th 2007 7:46AM
Well, I guess that means I'll be stealing that music via BT instead of just listening to it then...
adnanspzafar@hotmail.comApr 17th 2007 7:50AM
PS: Does anyone know the iTunes Radio implications of this move? So there will no longer be streaming radio on iTunes? I swear I live on that thing!
JamesApr 17th 2007 7:56AM
@#4: Ding ding ding! Yes, by removing one-by-one the options for legally listening to free music, you don't move people into the legal market for pay music -- they don't magically sprout extra money -- you move them into the *illegal* market for free music. Good thing the RIAA didn't hire anybody with at least a semester of economics under their belt, or they might have avoided this unbelievably colossal blunder.
JamesApr 17th 2007 7:58AM
erm, make that @#3....
tppApr 17th 2007 8:49AM
Since Last.fm is UK based, it will be fine. Pandora is US based and will not.
All this does is cause Internet radio in the US to die. Elsewhere it'll flourish.
Ah, the beauty of the Internet.
Just wait until RIAA will export the laws to other countries, though. It's inevitable.
Victor Agreda, Jr.Apr 17th 2007 12:05PM
tpp, problem is, we've enacted several laws that pertain to US web users, despite the country of origin for the site. Look at online poker.
Fact is, the RIAA isn't afraid to then, based on this ruling, sue Last.fm in their own turf for damages, penalties, etc. etc.
And the bottom line is that groups like the RIAA are going to help slow our economy at a time when it really doesn't need these kinds of economic blunders.
JohnApr 17th 2007 11:41AM
This is definitely a big mistake (I hope Launch still operates though, I love it!)...There will definitely be a consumer backlash which will hurt record sales even more...people will just have one less outlet to listen to music and will find other alternatives for entertainment (movies, video games, news, ...). Sad... In the meantime, people will continue file sharing no matter what they do, especially now that there's free, encrypted, p2p options like GigaTribe popping up ( http://www.gigatribe.com )...
tppApr 17th 2007 1:06PM
Victor, I think you're confusing (Internet) radio performance royalty payments with copyright violations.
Each country has its own agreements over the performance royalty rates, the agreements made in the US don't apply outside of US borders. RIAA could work with their bribed officials and raise the royalty rates to $1M per second per song per user if they wanted to, and Last.fm still wouldn't have to pay them squat, because they operate in the UK.
LebeuApr 17th 2007 5:15PM
So, relocate Pandora...now! :)