Entries tagged as webcasters

Today, July 15, is supposed to have been the date that thousands of internet radio broadcasters are sent to their final resting place. This is due mainly to the ten-fold increase in royalty payments that the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) plans to impose.

The heart of the conflict is that the internet broadcasters argue that such rates would put them out of business. At the other end, commercial artists and record companies, through their collection agent called Soundexchange, argue that the hike was necessary to ensure proper compensation for their work.

So it was basically a whirlwind week last week when court testimonies and arguments went back and forth regarding this issue. And then there were the private meetings and negotiations that ended up in Capitol Hill. When the dust settled, internet radio is still alive ... just barely.

A lot of webcasters have already started composing their own eulogies. Most notable of quotes came from the CEO of Live365 who went on record as saying "there is no industry." This being the aftermath of a panel of copyright judges throwing out the reconsideration plea of a group internet broadcasters to a ruling that increased the royalties they must pay to record companies and artists.

Last month, the Copyright Royalty Board significantly raised the fees that webcasts have to pay, nearly tenfold. Naturally the webcasters appealed but the outcome was negative towards them as we had already forecasted.

This issue is sure to drag because the lawyer of the webcasters has already said their next step is to elevate the case to the court of appeals. In the meantime, my two cents worth to the webcasters is to snap out of their self pity, roll up your sleeves and get to work.