Monday, March 12, 2007

On March 2nd, the Copyright Royalty Board (appointed by the U.S.Copyright Office) handed down their decision on U.S.Copyright Royalty Rates for the years 2006-2010 (yep, it's retroactive to Jan.1, 2006). The new rate structure does two things:
1) it raises rates that streaming webcasts (independents webcasters, webcasters using services such as Live365.com - I'm one of them, AOL Radio, Yahoo Radio, etc.) pay to a point that ALL streaming audio providers will have to shut down;
2) it ends the Small Webcasters License Agreement that was negoiated in 2003, which will not only cause services for Independent Webcasters & Public Radio stations to close down, but many Independent Webcasters will owe so much for Jan. 2006 through today that they will be forced to take Personal Bankruptcy.

These Copyright Royalties are said to be for Artists. The fact is, the Major Music Companies own the vast majority of the copyrights for the music they have released. Only a very few Major Label artists own their copyrights (& most of those, like Bowie, Springsteen, etc. have paid a lot of cash to get them). Publishing rights yes, but not copyrights. And this decision does not change songwriter royalties (which all legally-operating U.S. Webcasters pay) one bit.

Even services such as Pandora would be affected. Pandora's royalty bill for 2006 (under the new rates) is estimated to be anywhere from several hundred million to over one Billion U.S.dollars.

The Independent Webcasters affected by this aren't wealthy. They are folks like you & me who love the Music & want to share the great songs & musicianship with everyone. These aren't 'Pirate Stations' either. These are webcasters based in the U.S. doing everything legally & above board. And, if services such as Live365 & LoudCity have to shut down, webcasters & Listeners from over 100 countries who stream through those services will also be silenced.

More on the decision- http://www.live365.com/info/royalties.html

What can you do?

If you live in the United States, contact your House & Senate members & let them know how you feel.

House: http://www.house.gov/writerep/
Senate: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

If you live outside the U.S., go to Save the Streams (http://www.savethestreams.org/) and sign the online petition,
and contact the Copyright Royalty Board (http://www.loc.gov/crb/contact/)

More background on this decision:

Report by the Copyright Royalty Board (115 pages)- http://www.loc.gov/crb/proceedings/2005-1/rates-terms2005-1.pdf
press reports-
Information on the decision-
http://www.kurthanson.com/archive/news/030207/index.shtml
Who gets rich- http://www.kurthanson.com/archive/news/030207/index.shtml

If you know Anyone (local, state, or federal government officials, local, state, or federal Political Party Officials, College or University Officials, etc.) contact them & let them know that this has to be rolled back. There will be an appeals & negoiation process for the next few months, but NOW is when we as Webcasters, Listeners, Musicians, & Recording Companies must make our voices heard.

Thanks,
Clarence Jones
OlioRadio.net

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