Facebook has continued its spree of licensing deals, inking a bunch of agreements with groups for independent artists. On Friday, it announced deals with Merlin, [PIAS], Beggar’s Group, and InGrooves. Those four groups will make their catalogs available to the social media network’s users. Continue Reading
The Copyright Royalty Board recently made its ruling for royalty rates to be paid by Sirius XM in 2018-2022. David Oxenford lays out the known details of the determination along with some important notes about the appeal for the webcasting rates set for 2016. Continue Reading
In the most detailed and far-thinking report on Tom Wheeler’s resignation that we’ve seen, guest columnist and renowned broadcast attorney David Oxenford lays out what a Republican-controlled FCC could mean after Inauguration Day. Continue Reading
The Copyright Royalty Board has said that there will be no cost-of-living increase for the online stream and pureplay rates levied in 2017. Here are the key details about this development. Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Justice has completed its much anticipated two-year review of consent decrees — decades-old laws which govern how ASCAP and BMI are permitted to license music on behalf of songwriters, composers, and publishers. The bottom line: No change, and a blow to the two major performing rights organizations (PROs) which have lobbied for more flexible control of rights management, especially in the streaming era. Continue Reading
Intellectual property attorney Angus MacDonald was the first to calculate that Pandora paid more than half of all SoundExchange collections of royalties to record labels. In this column, he calculates a higher percentage for 2015, noting that the growth of SoundExchange royalty collections is tied closely to Pandora, and that the pace is slowing. Continue Reading
In the wake of David Lowery’s lawsuit against Spotify, other streaming services are now allegedly moving to protect themselves against similar actions. Both Deezer and Rhapsody have reportedly made moves related to Lowery’s catalogs with the bands Camper van Beethoven and Cracker. Continue Reading
One of the most interesting aspects of the full determination just released by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) is the detailed argument put forward by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) that radio simulcasts should pay a lower music royalty rate than pureplay webcasting (e.g. Pandora). The copyright judges praised the NAB witness presentations, but ultimately rejected the attempt. Continue Reading
The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) published its full determination, as expected following the very brief announcement of new webcast royalty rates on December 16. To whatever extent small webcasters cast a hopeful wish that the complete royalty rate decision would offer some sign of a special provision for low-revenue Internet radio, that hope is dashed. Continue Reading
Internet radio’s landscape looks much different today than it did a week ago, due to numerous webcasters pulling the plug rather than paying the high rates of the Copyright Royalty Board’s (CRB) recent decision for 2016-20 royalties for sound recordings. Kurt Hanson surveys the damage. Continue Reading
This open letter is from Bill Goldsmith, Founder and Owner of Radio Paradise, one of the most venerable and recognized Internet radio stations. It is an appeal to David Byrne, as a board member of SoundExchange, to renew royalty protections that have enabled small webcasting for the past six years. Continue Reading
Live365 has informed at least some of its webcasters that it will be shutting down at the end of the month. The Internet radio hosting platform laid off the bulk of its staff and left its offices at the end of December, shortly after the Copyright Royalty Board decision about new rates, and the expiration of a law protecting small webcasters, sent shockwaves through the webcasting community. Continue Reading